Terrifying bodycam footage shows brutal firefight with ISIS cowards as they ‘run in and out of tunnels like rats’ in Mosul
Kurd fighters uncovered an underground network of passages in villages around Mosul
THE CHAOS and terror of the battle for Mosul has been captured in jaw-dropping GoPro footage taken by a Kurdish warrior.
The soldier, a member of one of the Peshmerga units advancing on the Iraqi city from the north and east, is seen running for the cover of a building as automatic gunfire from their ISIS opponents rings out around him.
A Twitter user wrote: "Good luck, brave men and women. You deserve more recognition than you will receive for this."
Armed forces closing in on Mosul today said they had secured some 20 villages on the outskirts of the city in the first 24 hours of an operation to retake what is Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq.
There have been reports that terrified jihadists are so desperate to flee they have been crashing their cars.
With air support from a U.S.-led coalition, government and Kurdish forces edged closer to the city as smoke darkened the blue sky above one ISIS position, apparently from oil fires ignited to hamper the incursion and make it harder to land air strikes.
Reuters reporters witnessed Islamic State mortar fire in villages on the plain east of the city as the militants sought to counter a push by Kurdish forces.
One car bomb exploded during the fighting, although it was not immediately clear if it had been detonated or hit by incoming fire.
With a population of 1.5 million, Mosul is the largest city under the control of the Islamic State group that seized swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, and its recapture would be a "decisive moment" in defeating the militants, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
COULD RETREATING ISIS FIGHTERS COME TO EUROPE?
Liberating Mosul from Islamic State could cause a surge of IS fighters into Europe, it has been warned.
The European Union's security commissioner Julian King told German newspaper Die Welt: "The reconquest of the northern Iraqi IS stronghold Mosul can cause violent IS fighters to come back to Europe.
"This is a very serious threat that we have to prepare for."
Mr King said more than 2,500 people have travelled from European countries to Islamic State regions to fight - and that some of them could return.
The security official added that while he did not believe there will be an "exodus" of fighters arriving in Europe, "even a small number represents a serious threat".