A Iraqi military spokesman said today that Iraqi forces have recaptured nearly 90 percent of west Mosul from the Islamic State group after retaking the city's eastern side earlier this year. <br/><br/>Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake Mosul from IS nearly seven months ago. <br/><br/>The drive to retake Mosul has been supported by US-led air strikes that have aided the Iraqi advance but which have also caused hundreds of civilian casualties in the city.<br/><br/>IS now controls just a handful of neighbourhoods around the Old City, one of the country's heritage jewels. Half a million people are currently displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, and some 250,000 civilians are estimated to be still trapped inside the city's west.