mosul
An Iraqi commander says that around 30 percent of the western city area has been retaken.
He has left the city to his field commanders.
The number of displaced is only expected to increase.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The Trump Administration would likely want to try again to foster political reconciliation.
There is still room for course correction.
The new push in Mosul comes after government forces finished clearing Islamic State from the east of the city last month.
The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Kurdish fighters and Shi’ite militias.
Islamic State militants are essentially under siege in western Mosul, along with an estimated 650,000 civilians, after they were forced out of the eastern part of the city.
When military advances began in Mosul, Nour Park was turned from a home for monkeys, horses and other animals into a staging ground for Islamic State.