Through the haze and smoke, the brown and gray outline of Gogjali is just about visible. It’s an industrial suburb on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, just two kilometers (1.24 miles) from front line positions of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force (CTF), and it’s their next target.

The Iraqi units send mortar fire into the area every few minutes. In the distance they can see ISIS fighters moving between abandoned houses; witnesses inside Mosul say the terror group has moved vehicles into Gogjali; the assumption is they are packed with explosives and prepared to meet the advance of the Iraqi units.
Beyond Gogjali, Mosul’s most obvious landmark — its communications tower — seems tantalizingly close. The center of the city is just 7 kilometers from our position.
A little farther east of Gogjali, the village of Tab Zawa is eerie — haunted by the brutal ghosts of ISIS. Their long, elaborate tunnels run through the town; the school where grenade practice replaced the curriculum is now deserted. They even left food behind, prepared but uneaten, before falling back to the outskirts of the city.
Read more- CNN
Image courtesy of the Associated Press