(21 Mar 2017) Plumes of thick black smoke rose over the Dawasa neighbourhood in western Mosul on Tuesday as heavy fighting continued.
Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul's old city on Monday, with the militarised Federal Police saying they were some 500 metres (yards) from al-Nuri mosque.
The mosque is where Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in July 2014, announcing a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Iraqi forces have been battling the extremists in Mosul, the country's second largest city, since October.
Iraq declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January and is now fighting for the more densely populated western half.
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