Battle for Mosul: Operation to retake key city begins

An Iraqi operation to recapture the city of Mosul, the last stronghold of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the country, is under way.

Kurdish peshmerga forces are attacking from the east of Iraq's second city, while the Iraqi army is pushing from the south.

The country's second city fell to the militants in June 2014, and it is central to the group's philosophy of a transnational Islamic caliphate.

The BBC's Orla Guerin is with Kurdish Peshmerga forces east of Mosul.