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Four months ago, thousands of Iraqi and Kurdish troops, supported by the United States, France, Britain, and other western nations, began a massive operation to retake Iraq's second largest city of Mosul from ISIS militants.

About two weeks ago, Iraqi government troops began to push into the western half of ISIS-occupied Mosul, after securing the eastern side. Beginning with the airport, troops have been going from neighborhood to neighborhood, house to house, facing fierce resistance from ISIS militants, including suicide attacks, improvised drone bombings, snipers, and booby traps.

Tens of thousands more Iraqis have fled the new battles, joining many more thousands in overfull refugee camps throughout Iraq.

A man cries as he carries his daughter while fleeing from an ISIS-controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq, on March 4, 2017.

Smoke rises following an airstrike in western Mosul on March 6, 2017, during an offensive by Iraqi forces to retake the western parts of the city.

An Iraqi special forces soldier fires at a drone operated by ISIS militants in Mosul on March 4, 2017.

An Iraqi Air Force helicopter fires missiles at ISIS fighters on the outskirts of Mosul on February 26, 2017.

An Iraqi special forces soldier shoots dead an ISIS suicide bomber in Mosul on March 3, 2017.

Iraqi special forces soldiers walk on a street in Mosul during a battle with ISIS on March 3, 2017.

An injured Iraqi soldier hit is held by another officer as they wait for medics to arrive at the ISIS-occupied Mosul Airport on February 23, 2017.

Iraqi families flee the fighting in Mosul on March 3, 2017.

Displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with ISIS militants, in western Mosul on March 6, 2017.

Khatla Ali Abdullah, 90, is embraced while she flees her home as Iraqi forces battle with ISIS in western Mosul on February 27, 2017.

A view shows Khazer camp for displaced Iraqi people who fled the ISIS stronghold of Mosul on February 6, 2017.

Displaced Iraqi children who fled Mosul with their families play on a swing hung from barbed wire at Khazer camp, Iraq, on February 6, 2017.

A vehicle of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service drives through a heavily damaged street in Mosul on March 1, 2017.

An Iraqi special forces soldier checks men for explosive belts as they cross from an ISIS-controlled part of Mosul to an Iraqi forces-controlled area on March 4, 2017.

An Iraqi Federal policeman gives water to one of two handcuffed suspected ISIS militants after they were arrested inside their home on the western side of Mosul on February 27. 2017.

Iraqi security forces launch a rocket against ISIS positions during clashes on the western side of Mosul on March 5, 2017.

Displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with ISIS, in the district of Maamoun in western Mosul, on February 25, 2017.

A view of ISIS slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel that was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in a hillside overlooking Mosul, on March 4, 2017. The slogan reads, "We will conquer Rome, God willing".

A member of the Iraqi forces stands over a body in Mosul on March 5, 2017, during an offensive to retake the western parts of the city from the jihadists.

An explosion follows an airstrike during the battle against ISIS in the district of al-Mamoun in Mosul on March 1, 2017.

Displaced Iraqis flee their homes in the Al Mansour district, western Mosul, on March 6, 2017.

Iraqis holding white flags flee Mosul on March 1, 2017.

A convoy of tanks and armored vehicles of the Iraqi army's 34th brigade advances near Talul al-Atshana, on the southwestern outskirts of Mosul, on February 27, 2017.

An Iraqi special forces soldier runs across a street in Mosul during a battle with ISIS on March 3, 2017.

Fire and smoke billow following a car bomb explosion as Iraqi forces clash with ISIS fighters in Mosul on March 5, 2017.

A lion in its cage looks at a dead lioness in a grave in Mosul's zoo on February 2, 2017.

An Iraqi soldier carries an injured woman on February 28, 2017.

Zakaria Imad Ahmed, 12, is treated by doctors in a first aid clinic in the Zahra neighborhood after he was hit in the head by shrapnel from a mortar fired by ISIS militants on February 6, 2017.

An Iraqi special forces soldier fires as other soldiers run across a street during a battle in Mosul on March 1, 2017.