IN BRIEF (Page 12)

IRAQ

Govt forces assault Mosul district

Fighting raged as Iraq's special forces began their assault on Mosul's eastern outskirts on Tuesday, part of operations to drive the Islamic State group from the country's second largest city. Troops opened up with artillery, tank and machine-gun fire on IS positions on the edge of the Gogjali neighborhood, with the extremists responding with guided anti-tank missiles and small arms to block the advance. Mosul is the final IS bastion in Iraq, the city from which it declared a "caliphate" stretching into Syria.