According to Rasoul, troops are on a "very short" distance from the Grand Nuri Mosque the landmark structure at the where ISIS leader Aby Bakr al-Baghdadi made his infamous sermon in 2014.
The assault on Mosul began in October 2016 with two special forces - the Counter-Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Division - advancing to the city's south, west and north before overrunning the eastern side earlier this year.
- January 24: As Iraqi forces prepare to attack Mosul's west, the United Nations warns that 750,000 civilians there are at "extreme risk" and a quarter of a million Iraqis could flee their homes. "All road traffic has stopped", said an official at Hammam al-Alil, home to some 30,000 displaced people.
Late March, the worldwide coalition estimated the number of Islamic State fighters in western Mosul by at least 1000.
Iraqi federal police forces "are engaged in hard, house-to-house clashes with ISIS fighters inside the Old City", a media officer from these units told Reuters.
Iraqi officials say more than half of western Mosul has been retaken.
Barcelona 'champions' capable of fresh comeback: Luis Enrique
Then, Barcelona will be forced to mount yet another comeback against Juventus on Wednesday to reach Europe's final four. Juventus are capable of grinding teams out and that is exactly what is needed in order to win the Champions League .
Iraqi government forces, backed by U.S. advisers, artillery and air support, have cleared the east and half of western Mosul and are now focused on the Old City.
Seven alleys in the neighborhood were recaptured, al-Alusi said, adding that his forces killed 15 armed militants and arrested another three; they also destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle through which a suicide bomber tried to target Iraqi troops.
Civilian houses occasionally come under attacks by coalition warplanes taking part in an Iraqi offensive aimed to recapture Mosul from IS terrorist group, which overran the city in 2014.
"Mosul has pushed us to our operational limits", said Grande.
The UN said last month that 12 people, including women and children, had been treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul.
The militant group has lost ground in Mosul but still controls the towns of Qaim, Hawija and Tal Afar in Iraq as well as Raqqa, their de facto capital in Syria.
Comments