Iraqi special forces on Wednesday arrested four men they say were fighting for the Islamic State group in the Tahrir district of Mosul.
The four IS militants were captured along with two Iraqis and two non-Iraqi Arabs who surrendered.
The men were blindfolded and had their hands bound behind them before being placed in the back of a Humvee. Some wore traditional Arab clothes, called dishdasha, and others wore tracksuits.
Heavy fighting broke out in the eastern Tahrir neighbourhood on Wednesday.
Backed by US-led airstrikes but under fire from heavy weapons, the troops drove deeper into the neighbourhood as families fled their homes.
According to Brigadier General Haider Fadhil Special Forces now control 70 percent of the Tahrir district, where most residents are sheltering indoors.
Iraqi forces launched a long-awaited operation to retake the country's second largest city nearly a month ago, but have only advanced into a few eastern districts.
They have faced fierce resistance, with snipers, mortar fire and waves of suicide attackers driving armor-plated vehicles packed with explosives.
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