Islamic State spokesman insults Trump, calls him 'an ugly idiot'

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An Islamic State group spokesman called on Tuesday for countries attacking it to be targeted, in an audio recording in which he also insulted US President Donald Trump.

The helicopter was providing close air support to Federal Police forces battling Daesh fighters on the western side of Mosul, the statement said.

"Iraqi air force aircraft dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets. containing procedures and recommendations for citizens" in west Mosul and other IS-held areas, said Iraq's Joint Operations Command.

Heavy fighting with machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers and mortars was heard by the Reuters TV crew coming from the area around the mosque, located in the old city and famous for its leaning minaret.

Isis has previously claimed to shoot down helicopters in Syria.

Russia's top diplomat bashes United States for Syrian missile attack
It came days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held his first meeting with President Donald Trump at a summit in Florida last week. But two things should give us pause in expecting too much too quickly: Syria's Russian patron and the nature of civil war.

(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Iraqis walk next to burned cars, used to block a street recently retaken by Iraqi security forces, during fighting against Islamic State militants on the western side of in Mosul, Iraq, Monday, April 3, 2017.

Eight members of the same family were killed in a USA -led coalition airstrike in western Mosul on Wednesday amid an ongoing offensive to oust Daesh terrorist group from the northern city.

The Iraqi air force is conducting strikes against ISIS in Mosul in coordination with the US -led coalition air forces.

A total of 31 bodies were taken to hospital, including 14 policemen, said Nawfal Mustafa, a doctor at the city's main hospital.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are gearing up for tiny battles after the city is redeemed and expect the militant group to go underground. It has controlled the city, Iraq's second-biggest, ever since, imposing its brutal brand of ultra conservative Islamic law on the city's pre-takeover population of more than a million.

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