Story highlights Dramatic footage from western Mosul shows families, Iraqi soldiers caught amid battleIn the video, a suicide car bomb explodes on a street in Tayaran neighborhood(CNN) The roar of gunfire echoes through the rubble-strewn streets of the Tayaran neighborhood in west Mosul, as a group of civilians scurries for cover. Suddenly, a huge blast erupts nearby; scattering Iraqi soldiers and civilians in the city's war-torn streets as a massive plume of black smoke rises. This is the dramatic footage, shot by freelance cameraman Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, more than two weeks after the offensive to drive ISIS out of west Mosul began. The scenes are a snapshot of the complex conditions facing the country's military as soldiers work to clear the region of militants. Since then, Iraqi forces have been fighting house-by-house, block-by-block against ISIS extremists.

Source: CNN March 09, 2017 18:11 UTC