Iraqi forces are struggling to secure gains they made over the past week on Mosul’s eastern edge. This is transforming the fight against ISIS into close-quarters urban combat, spiking casualties among Iraq’s troops and civilians. Iraq’s military does not release official death tolls, but an American volunteer medic said he helped treat 44 casualties before he lost count. Hundreds of civilians slowly poured out of Mosul on foot during the fighting as well. Iraqi soldiers gathered them on street corners and loaded them on trucks set for camps for the displaced.
