Iraq's premier said on Tuesday security forces need another three months to eliminate the Islamic State group from the country after launching their offensive against IS in October. "The available data indicate that Iraq requires three months to eliminate Daesh," Haider al-Abadi told a televised news conference, referring to the jihadist group by an Arabic acronym.

Previously, he had vowed that the IS-occupied city of Mosul would be retaken "before the end of the year", a goal that is no longer possible. What began as a rapid push into Mosul, which the jihadists have occupied since June 2014, has turned into a hellish block-by-block war, with IS inflicting high casualty rates on advancing Iraqi forces.

Since the offensive began on October 17, elite Iraqi forces have reconquered several parts of eastern Mosul and are moving closer to the Tigris, the river that divides the city, but IS still occupies the city's west. High-ranking officials believe that the battle against IS could drag on, and the Sunni extremist group continues to carry out attacks in areas from which it had been dislodged by the government offensive.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2016