Kurdish forces retake Iraqi villages outside Mosul

Armed forces closing in on Mosulsaid on Tuesday they had secured some 20 villages on theoutskirts of the city in the first 24 hours of an operation toretake the last major ISISstronghold in Iraq.

With air support from a U.S.-led coalition, government andKurdish forces edged closer to the city as smoke darkened theblue sky above one Islamic State of Iraq and Syriaposition, apparently from oil firesignited to hamper the incursion and make it harder to land airstrikes.

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A Pentagon spokesmansaysmore than 100 U.S. troops are embedded with Iraqi forces, including the KurdishPeshmerga, as they advance towardMosul.

The spokesman, NavyCapt. Jeff Davis, told reporters Tuesday that the Americans are "well back" from the front lines as they advise the Iraqis and perform other tasks such as relaying information received from frontline Iraqis about potential ISIS targets for coalitionairstrikes. Some hundreds of other U.S. troops are in support roles such as processing intelligence and providing logistical help from Iraqi staging bases.

Davis said U.S. warplanes are supporting the Iraqis, as expected, and that American artillery is being used against ISIS targets. He would not be more specific about the use of U.S. artillery.

Earlier Tuesday, Iraq's Kurdish forces had said they are pausing in their advance after capturing thevillages to the east of Mosul, as the Iraqi army presses ahead with the next stage of the assault.

Col. Khathar Sheikhansaidhis troops achieved their objectives and "are just holding our positions."

The pause comes after a day of intense fighting involvingairstrikes, heavy artillery and ISIS car bombs.

Thousands of troops involved

With a population of 1.5 million, Mosul is the largest cityunder the control of ISIS, which seized swathesof territory in both countriesin 2014, and its recapture would be a"decisive moment" in defeating the militants, according to U.S.Defence Secretary Ash Carter.

But the urban battle ahead in a city four to five timeslarger than other towns seized by ISIS poses both military challenge and humanitarian challenges, with theUnited Nations warning of an exodus of up to a million people.

About 4,000 to 8,000 militants are thought to be dug intoMosul, while the forces assembled to drive them out are estimatedat 30,000, including Iraqi army, Kurdish and Sunni tribalfighters.

More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers are also deployed in supportmissions, as are troops from France, Britain, Canada and otherWestern nations.

The Iraqi army is attacking Mosul on the southern andsoutheastern fronts, while the Kurdish militia, known as thePeshmerga, carried out theiroperation to the east.

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The Peshmerga, who are also deployed north and northwest ofthe city, said they secured "a significant stretch" of the 80-kilometreroad between Erbil, their capital, and Mosul, about anhour's drive to the west.

Humanitarian challenges

The UNrefugee agency said it had built five camps tohouse 45,000 people and plans to have an additional six in thecoming weeks with a capacity for 120,000. That would still notbe enough to cope if the exodus were to become as big as feared.

Anofficial said the UN expects people to start fleeing Mosul "basically any minute now."

Spokesman Jens Laerke of UNhumanitarian aid coordinator OCHA told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva that "we haven't seen any big rush out yet" from the city.

The battle has also raised fears of sectarian and ethnicrevenge killings in territory retaken from theultra-hardlineSunni Muslim ISIS.

Amnesty International urged Iraqi authorities to keepShia paramilitary groups away from Mosul, which has alargely Sunni population.

The rights group said the Shia-led government in Baghdadwould bear responsibility for the actions of the militias, knowncollectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces, which areofficially considered to be part of the country's armed forces.

"There can be no justification for extrajudicial executions,enforced disappearances, torture or arbitrary detention," saidAmnesty International's Philip Luther.

• Anti-ISIS fight will get harder after Mosul, says Canadian general

France's foreign minister is pulling together an urgent international meeting for a stabilization plan for Mosul as the push to free the city from ISISadvances.

Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday that he and his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim a-Jaafari, would gather more than 20 countries and international organizations to come up with a plan to protect civilians, distribute aid and address questions about governing areas newly liberated by the Islamic State group.

The meeting is expected on Thursday in Paris.