Seven months into the US -backed campaign, the militants now control only a few districts in the western half of Mosul including the Old City, where Islamic State is expected to make its last stand.
The so-called "Islamic State" (IS) still controls "10.5 percent of.the right bank", Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, said during a news conference in Baghdad.
Rasool said the jihadist group now holds 6.4% of Iraq in total, exclusively in the northern province of Nineveh, after US-backed troops regained most areas, Rasool said.
Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake Mosul from Daesh almost seven months ago, fighting their way to the terrorist-held city, retaking its eastern side and then attacking the west across the Tigris River. The Mosul operation began on October 17, 2016.
The Iraqi government is hoping to declare victory in Mosul by the holy month of Ramadan, which is to begin on May 27, even if some pockets of IS resistance remain in the Old City.
Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the US-led global coalition against IS, said that the end was near for jihadists in the city.
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According to Rasool, extremists dominate a "handful of neighborhoods" around the Old City, a heritage area of the city, and where the emblematic Al-Nouri Grand Mosque stands, from which IS leader Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi proclaimed the Islamic caliphate of Iraq and Syria, in June 2014. "The enemy is on the brink of total defeat in Mosul".
The leaflet dropped over Mosul also ordered civilians to immediately stop using any vehicle to avoid being mistaken for militants who have fought back against Iraqi forces with suicide auto bombs and motorcycle bombs.
The battle in Mosul has displaced more than 500,000 people, and it is estimated that 250,000 people are still trapped inside the city by IS militants.
Planes also dropped leaflets into the city telling civilians that the battle for Mosul was nearly over.
The coalition launched its offensive in Iraq and Syria in August 2014.
But that is not the only threat: trapped residents reached by AFP inside IS-held areas have recently warned that hunger was starting to kill more people than the fighting.
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