A member of Iraqi special forces poses in the neighbourhood of al-Barid east of Mosul on December 18, 2016 during their ongoing operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to wrest back the city. / AFP / Mahmoud AL-SAMARRAI
MOSUL, Iraq: At least 10 civilians were killed and 34 others injured Tuesday when mortar shells struck homes here amid an ongoing offensive to oust Islamic State from this northern Iraqi city, a medic told Anadolu Agency.
"Five of them were seriously injured, so they were transferred to the hospitals in Erbil as the field hospitals are unable to treat these seriously injured," Musab Mahmoud at the Gogjali hospital said.
In late October, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition warplanes and local allies on the ground -- launched a major offensive to retake Mosul, the last Islamic State stronghold in northern Iraq.
Officials have vowed to seize control of the city, which fell to Islamic State in mid-2014 along with vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq, by the year-end.
