More than 5,000 people removed from Mosul, Iraqi military says

More than 5,000 people have been successfully removed from the eastern part of Mosulin northern Iraq and takento camps, as forces retake the region fromIslamic State of Iraq and Syria militants, a senior military commander says.

Lt.-Gen.TalibShaghati, commander of the Joint Military Operation Command, told reporters on Thursday that civilians have been fleeing Mosul'seasternneighbourhoods since Wednesday.

According to the UN, some 22,000 people have been displaced as a result of the fighting. UN spokesman StephaneDujarric said Thursday about half have settled in camps and the remainder in host communities. Among those, 9,700 are children and in urgent need of assistance.

So far, the organization has distributed food, water and medicine to over 25,000 displaced people and vulnerable residents in newly retaken towns.

• ISIS leader Baghdadi unbowed by Mosul battle
• Iraqi forces enter Mosul, main city fight ahead

On Tuesday, Iraqi forces entered the eastern Gogjali and Karama neighbourhoods, marking the first time troops have set foot in Mosul in two years.

Iraqi special forces say they fired a rocket to destroy an explosives-laden vehicle that sped out of a more central neighbourhood.

Brig.-Gen. Haider Fadhil says the attacker came from the Samah neighbourhood of the city, attempting to blow himself up among troops positioned in the Gogjali neighbourhood.

Fadhilsaid a second vehicle from the same area, presumably another suicide car bomber, managed to get away. He said ISISfighters are also using explosives-laden drone aircraft, deploying two since the previous night, both of which were destroyed.

Meanwhile,Iraqi Shiaforces fighting to cut off an ISIS supply route west ofMosulmadeprogress, but several cars were still able to leave the city, a spokesperson said.

The leader of theBadrOrganization, the largest of the Shiite militia, said earlier he hopes to seal off the city's western flank Thursday.

• ISIS using tens of thousands as human shields in Mosul
• Iraqi forces evacuate 1,000 civilians from Mosul front line

It was not clear whether the cars were escaping the fighting in Mosul, or seeking to reinforce the ISIS-held town of Tal Afar to the west.

The Iraqi army, security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces have been advancing from the south, east and north of Mosul since launching an offensive on Oct. 17 to recapture the city, the largest city controlled by ISIS in Iraq or Syria.

They were joined five days ago by the Popular Mobilization forces, which launched their offensive toward Tal Afar on Mosul's western flank on the way to neighbouring Syria. Cutting off this region of the city will leave ISIS enclosed on four axes.

Badr leader Hadi al-Amiri said militias also intended to ultimately cut off the main highway between Mosul and Tal Afar, but said the supply route was the priority as it was the one used by militants since they took over the city two years ago.

"This is the area Daesh[ISIS]entered Mosul from," he told Iraqi television. "Severing this road means to completely cut off the enemy's supply lines and surround them."