A new analysis, meanwhile, has found that there was high risk that ISIS would deploy chemical weapons against Mosul civilians or Iraqi troops fighting to retake the city. Iraqi troops began their siege of Zohour on Sunday as they fortified their positions in neighbourhoods they had already retaken in eastern Mosul. Iraqi forces say they're advancing cautiously in Mosul because there are still too many civilians in the city. The Iraqi military is known to have received U.S.-made pontoon bridges, which Iraqi troops would use as a substitute for the destroyed bridges. Chemical weapons usedAccording to the analysis by IHS Markit, a London-based intelligence analysis firm, Mosul served as a centre for chemical weapons production for ISIS.

Source: CBC News November 22, 2016 16:27 UTC