the ongoing battle for mosul

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

A month ago, thousands of Iraqi and Kurdish troops, supported by the United States, France, and Britain, began a massive operation to retake Iraq's second largest city of Mosul from ISIS militants. Thousands of bombs have been dropped by coalition aircraft over the past few weeks, as ground forces move from village to village, house to house, advancing on central Mosul.

ISIS fighters have put up strong resistance, setting fire to oil reserves, killing some civilians and using others as human shields, while thousands of refugee families continue to flee the violence. While progress is being made by Iraqi forces toward surrounding and recapturing Mosul, the campaign may drag on for many more weeks or months.

A fighter from the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) walks through a destroyed church on November 8, 2016 in Qaraqosh, Iraq.

Federal police forces launch a rocket during clashes with ISIS militants south of Mosul on October 26, 2016.

Smoke rises during clashes in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack ISIS militants in Mosul, Iraq, on November 8, 2016.

Iraqi special forces soldiers fire weapons at ISIS fighters in Mosul, Iraq, on November 14, 2016. 

Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation to retake the city of Mosul, are seen near Qayyarah, south of Mosul, on October 29, 2016.

An Iraqi air force helicopter fires a machine gun at ISIS militants south of Mosul, Iraq, on November 9, 2016. 

Firefighters rest after trying to extinguish burning oil wells in Qayara, some 50 kilometers south of Mosul, Iraq. 

A Peshmerga fighter runs to take position during street battles against ISIS jihadists on November 8, 2016. 

An ISIS billboard sits destroyed in the middle of the road on November 8, 2016 in Qaraqosh, Iraq.

Peshmerga forces inspect a tunnel used by ISIS militants in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured on November 12, 2016.

Iraqi soldiers look at a tunneling machine that was used by ISIS, in Keramlis village, less than 18 miles southeast of Mosul, Iraq, on November 13, 2016. 

A picture taken on November 4, 2016, shows rockets being fired from the Qayyarah military base, during an to retake the main hub city from ISIS. 

The charred remains of an ISIS fighter in Mosul's Arbagiah neighborhood on November 13, 2016.

Men pull the body of an Islamic State fighter with a rope, before burying him south of Mosul, on November 11, 2016.

An Iraqi soldier holds a mannequin as he stands beside a tank made of wood that was used by ISIS as a diversion tactic in Bawiza, on November 13, 2016.

Two ISIS fighters found hiding in a house in the Arbagiah neighborhood of Mosul are seen on November 11, 2016.

Smoke rises from oil wells, set ablaze by ISIS militants before fleeing the oil-producing region of Qayyara, Iraq, on November 1, 2016.

An Iraqi soldier gives juice to a child in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul, on October 28, 2016 after troops recaptured it from ISIS.

A Kurdish girl wears her relative's assault rifle and ammunition belt as she waits at the Iraqi Kurdish Shaqouli checkpoint, on November 10, 2016. 

Iraqi forces react as they watch Donald Trump giving a speech after he won the US president elections in the village of Arbid on November 9, 2016.

A displaced Iraqi boy leads his animals to safety after escaping from the ISIS-controlled village of Abu Jarboa near Mosul, Iraq, on November 1, 2016.

A displaced Iraqi family flees after escaping from the ISIS-controlled village of Abu Jarboa, near Mosul, Iraq, on November 1, 2016. 

An Iraqi soldier puts up a helmet as a decoy as a sniper gets ready to fire on ISIS positions in Gogjali, on the eastern edges of Mosul, on November 3.

An Iraqi Christian soldier fixes the bell of the St. Addai church, which was damaged by Islamic State fighters during their occupation of Keramlis village, southeast of Mosul, on November 13, 2016. 

A Christian Iraqi woman cries after she saw the St. Addai church which was damaged by ISIS fighters during their occupation of Keramlis village.

Frontline medics help carry an Iraqi soldier hit by sniper fire in the Samah neighborhood of Mosul on November 15, 2016. 

A displaced Iraqi boy holds up a white flag while fleeing Samah neighborhood during a fight between ISIS militants and army on November 13, 2016.

A newly-displaced Iraqi woman kisses a child's hand as she is reunited with her relatives in the Khazir area, near the Kurdish checkpoint of Aksi Kalak.