MOSUL Islamic State militants shelled areas recaptured by Iraqi forces in western Mosul, hitting civilians fleeing the fighting early on Wednesday as troops edged their way through the narrow, dangerous streets of the Old City.
Losing Mosul would be a symbolic blow for Islamic State whose forces are also coming under attack in the Syrian city of Raqqa across the border.
Baghdadi and other leaders are believed to have left Mosul, but Islamic State fighters are countering with snipers hiding among the population, car bombs and armored suicide trucks smashing into Iraqi positions around the Old City.
At federal police frontlines near the Old City, forces blocked off roads with earthen barricades to stop suicide car bombers reaching their troops.
Fighting is focused on capturing the strategic Al Nuri mosque in the Old City, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al?Baghdadi declared his caliphate in July 2014 after the militants had seized large areas of Iraq and Syria.
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