The Battle for Mosul: Attacks Launched Against Islamic State

Iraqi forces are shelling Islamic State areas near Mosul during their second week of fighting in an effort to retake the city from the Islamic State.

They have already taken back a Christian town, Bartella, which is just nine miles east of Mosul. 

The U.S.-led operation involved months of planning and coordinating more than 25,000 Iraqi, Kurdish, and Sunni fighters and state-sanctioned Shiite militias. They're being backed by more than 100 U.S. troops, who are providing both ground and air support.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Washington would supply extra support to the Iraqi forces if needed. He added that the U.S. was planning an operation in Islamic State's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, one that he wanted to begin "as soon as possible."

Reports say it could take weeks, or even months, to drive out ISIS from Mosul, which had been home to more than a million people.