Mosul: Iraqi forces continue advance into IS stronghold
US-backed Iraqi forces continue their offensive into western Mosul as they push deeper into the so-called Islamic State's last major stronghold.
About 1,000 citizens walked across the frontline as troops advanced into more populated southern districts of the city.
This was the largest displacement since an offensive began last week in a bid to oust IS from the western district.
Last month, government forces drove insurgents from the eastern sector of the city that is divided by the Tigris river.
Fighting is now concentrated on the western side of the ancient city, where narrow alleyways not designed for tanks and armoured vehicles, have not stopped Iraqi forces making quick advances on multiple fronts.
The advancing forces are now less than three kilometres (two miles) from the mosque in Mosul's old city where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in 2014 spanning Iraq and Syria.