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THE PRICE OF VICTORY

Blasted buildings and shattered streets of Mosul laid bare as Iraqi troops sweep ISIS from half of war-ravaged city

The bitter fight for the city has left families' homes in rubble

THESE pictures show the devastation done to the city of Mosul after Iraqi forces forced the terror group out of the east of the city after months of bitter street fighting.

Elite Counter-Terrorism Service troops announced that almost all of the city's eastern half has been brought under government control - but at a heavy cost.

An Iraqi boys walk near the University of Mosul after its liberation from ISIS
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An Iraqi boys walk near the University of Mosul after its liberation from ISISCredit: Getty Images
These flats collapsed in the bitter street-to-street fighting
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These flats collapsed in the bitter street-to-street fightingCredit: Getty Images
A member of the Iraqi special forces gestures as he stands near a bomb-rigged vehicle that was disarmed in the Andalus neighbourhood in the city of Mosul
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A member of the Iraqi special forces gestures as he stands near a bomb-rigged vehicle that was disarmed in the Andalus neighbourhood in the city of MosulCredit: Getty Images

Roads are pocked with craters and buildings have been reduced to rubble as the battle with ISIS raged over the past three months.

The fight to take the western side of Mosul, which remains under the jihadists' control, should not be more difficult than the one on the eastern side, Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi told Reuters before embarking on a tour of areas newly retaken.

Assadi climbed during his visit to the upper floor of a huge unfinished mosque and gazed out at the western side of the northern Iraqi city, which is divided into two halves by the Tigris river.

Members of the Iraqi forces pose for a picture outside the Oberoi hotel
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Members of the Iraqi forces pose for a picture outside the Oberoi hotelCredit: Getty Images
The rubble-strewn interior of the hotel
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The rubble-strewn interior of the hotelCredit: Getty Images

"God willing, there will be a meeting in the next few days attended by all the commanders concerned with liberation operations," he said, replying to a question on when he expects a planned thrust into the western side of Mosul to begin.

"It will not be harder than what we have seen. The majority of (IS) commanders have been killed in the eastern side." He did not give further details.

Since late 2015, government forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air power have wrested back large amounts of northern and western territory overrun by IS in a shock 2014 offensive.

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Iraqi counter-terrorism forces take position inside a room in the Oberoi hotel
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Iraqi counter-terrorism forces take position inside a room in the Oberoi hotelCredit: Getty Images
People inspect the destroyed Mosque of The Prophet Younis, or Jonah, in Mosul
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People inspect the destroyed Mosque of The Prophet Younis, or Jonah, in MosulCredit: AP:Associated Press
The battle for eastern Mosul has taken months
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The battle for eastern Mosul has taken monthsCredit: AP:Associated Press

Researchers say the Islamic State group lost nearly a quarter of its territory last year, as an array of forces pressured it on multiple fronts in Syria and Iraq.

An Iraqi man cycles past damaged buildings near the University of Mosul after its liberation
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An Iraqi man cycles past damaged buildings near the University of Mosul after its liberationCredit: Getty Images
A picture of Jesus Christ lies on the ground inside a church damaged by Islamic State militants during their occupation of the predominantly Christian town of Tilkaif
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A picture of Jesus Christ lies on the ground inside a church damaged by Islamic State militants during their occupation of the predominantly Christian town of TilkaifCredit: AP:Associated Press
Iraqi forces battled the last holdout jihadists in east Mosul this week
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Iraqi forces battled the last holdout jihadists in east Mosul this weekCredit: Getty Images

In a report published Thursday, IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center called the territorial losses "unprecedented" and predicted IS militants would be driven from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul later this year.

IS swept across Iraq from neighboring Syria in the summer of 2014, seizing nearly a third of Iraq's territory.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have gradually taken back several cities and towns since then, and announced this week that they had retaken most of the eastern half of Mosul.

U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces have meanwhile pushed IS out of much of northern Syria.

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