Iraqi forces were on the doorstep of ISIS-held Mosul on Tuesday, encountering snipers, landmines and road-blocking boulders to edge ever closer to the key city.
Troops came within hundreds of meters from Mosul on Monday evening and are now the closest they've been since launching an operation two weeks ago to wrest the city from more than two years of ISIS rule.
Iraqi special forces hold a cross found in the Christian town of Bartella on October 22. Iraqi forces recaptured Bartella but still faced some resistance in the area.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi special forces hold a cross found in the Christian town of Bartella on October 22. Iraqi forces recaptured Bartella but still faced some resistance in the area.
A woman wears a mask to alleviate her difficulty breathing due to the contaminated air in Qayyara on
Iraqi forces patrol the Kirkuk area for members of ISIS on October 25. The terror group has launched surprise attacks in other parts of Iraq, including Kirkuk, to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and to tie up their resources elsewhere.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi forces patrol the Kirkuk area for members of ISIS on October 25. The terror group has launched surprise attacks in other parts of Iraq, including Kirkuk, to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and to tie up their resources elsewhere.
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Iraq's counterterrorism forces advance toward ISIS positions in Tob Zawa on October 25.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraq's counterterrorism forces advance toward ISIS positions in Tob Zawa on October 25.
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Soldiers give first aid to an injured boy in Tob Zawa on October 25.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Soldiers give first aid to an injured boy in Tob Zawa on October 25.
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Children dance and play inside the Baharka camp outside Irbil, Iraq, on October 25.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Children dance and play inside the Baharka camp outside Irbil, Iraq, on October 25.
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Iraqi families walk at a camp for displaced people near Qayyara on Monday, October 24.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi families walk at a camp for displaced people near Qayyara on Monday, October 24.
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Families displaced by the Mosul operation wait for food near Qayyara on October 24.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Families displaced by the Mosul operation wait for food near Qayyara on October 24.
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Displaced families gather near Qayyara on October 24.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Displaced families gather near Qayyara on October 24.
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The displaced receive food near Qayyara on October 24.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
The displaced receive food near Qayyara on October 24.
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Kurdish Peshmerga forces take positions as they start to move toward the Imam Reza and Tizxirab villages of the Bashiqa district on Sunday, October 23.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Kurdish Peshmerga forces take positions as they start to move toward the Imam Reza and Tizxirab villages of the Bashiqa district on Sunday, October 23.
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Iraqi forces distribute fruit to children in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS on October 23.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi forces distribute fruit to children in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS on October 23.
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Iraqi forces talk with a family in al-Khuwayn on October 23.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi forces talk with a family in al-Khuwayn on October 23.
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Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22.
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Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel on October 22, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk the previous day.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel on October 22, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk the previous day.
An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.
Iraqi special forces hold a cross found in the Christian town of Bartella on October 22. Iraqi forces recaptured Bartella but still faced some resistance in the area.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
Iraqi special forces hold a cross found in the Christian town of Bartella on October 22. Iraqi forces recaptured Bartella but still faced some resistance in the area.
An Iraqi boy who lost an eye in fighting between government forces and ISIS poses for a photograph in the Debaga refugee camp on October 22.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
An Iraqi boy who lost an eye in fighting between government forces and ISIS poses for a photograph in the Debaga refugee camp on October 22..
Iraqi forces patrol the Kirkuk area for members of ISIS on October 25. The terror group has launched surprise attacks in other parts of Iraq, including Kirkuk, to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and to tie up their resources elsewhere.
Iraqi forces patrol the Kirkuk area for members of ISIS on October 25. The terror group has launched surprise attacks in other parts of Iraq, including Kirkuk, to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and to tie up their resources elsewhere.
Iraqi forces talk with a family in al-Khuwayn on October 23.,
Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22.
Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel on October 22, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk the previous day.
Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel on October 22, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk the previous day.
An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.
Photos: Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push toward key city
An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.
Experts and officials have said that entering Mosul will likely trigger the fiercest fighting seen yet in the offensive, and that the battle is expected to be fought "street to street," or even "house to house."
The plan is to "squeeze" ISIS fighters from different directions, commanders say. But reports that the militant group has brought thousands of civilians -- mostly women and children -- into Mosul has raised serious concerns of a high number of civilian casualties in the battle.
In striking distance
Iraqi forces had surrounded the ISIS-held village of Gogjali on Mosul's eastern outskirts on Tuesday, and by late afternoon forces had taken control of the village, Major General Maan al-Saadi, commander of Iraqi counter-terrorism special forces, told CNN. A commander on the ground said forces are working to clear any explosives ISIS may have left behind in Gogjali.
The village is the last populated area before eastern Mosul, and freeing it opens the path for forces to enter the city.
Iraqi troops took control of a state TV building on the eastern edge of the city and raised the Iraqi flag on it, according to a statement released by Iraq's Joint military commands.
An officer with the country's Counter-Terrorism Force told CNN that progress had been slowed by the large number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines planted by ISIS. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk with the media
Battle for Mosul: How ISIS is fighting to keep its Iraqi stronghold
Progress was also slowed as around 20,000 civilians remain in Gogjali, and ISIS was essentially using them as human shields, according to Saadi.
Mosul's importance explained
Mosul's importance explained
Mosul's importance explained 01:49
Other officers told CNN that ISIS fighters had blocked the main road between the village and Mosul with boulders and that bulldozers were needed to clear them. The road is also laced with IEDs and mines, they said.
CNN correspondents near Gogjali said earlier Tuesday that they could see smoke rising on Mosul's perimeter from oil trenches being set alight to obscure warplanes from striking ISIS targets and to deter troops from entering. Iraqi armored divisions and coalition warplanes have responded by striking ISIS positions inside the village.
Troops are now in clear striking distance of the city, and they appear to have begun an assault on Mosul from outside. Residents of an eastern neighborhood reached by phone said there had been heavy shelling of the area by Iraqi forces, and that they heard outgoing mortars and heavy machine gunfire by ISIS fighters.
Two heavy impacts had shattered windows, they said, and everyone stayed in their homes to take cover, they told CNN. A large generator supplying power to the area had also been hit, and there was heavy fighting on the main road leading into Mosul from the city of Irbil.
According to a written Turkish military statement, Turkey has moved tanks and bulldozers from Ankara to southeastern cities near the Iraqi border, its closet position to Mosul.
Its defense minister said they were being used to fight against terror, Reuters reported, and that Turkey had "no obligation to wait" to take action if needed.
PM tells ISIS: 'Surrender or die'
On Monday night, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave the estimated 5,000 ISIS militants holed up in the city a chilling warning as troops approached the city's doorstep.
Iraqi families displaced by the ongoing operation to free Mosul are seen near Qayyarah, south of the city, on Saturday.
Iraqi families displaced by the ongoing operation to free Mosul are seen near Qayyarah, south of the city, on Saturday.
"There is no way to escape, either surrender or die," he told a reporter for state-run Iraqiya TV at the Qayyara airbase south of the city.
We will "cut the head (off) the snake," he said.
Abadi urged Mosul's beleaguered residents, who have suffered under ISIS since June 2014, to stay indoors during the battle. He also said they should resist ISIS-propogated rumors, and do what they can to prevent ISIS from destroying the city's infrastructure.
He added that, for the first time, Iraqi forces would be fighting side by side with Kurdish Peshmerga troops and urged politicians to "leave (their) political differences aside."
Experience the front lines of the Mosul offensive battle for mosul embed walsh pkg_00014913
Experience the front lines of the Mosul offensive 03:48
The coalition of around 100,000 people in the Mosul offensive is an extraordinary union of ethnic and religious groups that have long stood on opposing sides in Iraq's history.
Among them are Kurdish groups, including the Peshmerga, and Shia and Christian paramilitary groups.
The battle for Mosul is seen as one of the most significant in the fight against ISIS. The city is the group's Iraqi stronghold and is considered the jewel off the group's envisaged caliphate, or its so-called Islamic State.
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