Iraqi forces battled today through booby-traps, sniper fire and suicide car bombs to tighten the noose around Mosul. They also hunted Islamic State group jihadists behind attacks elsewhere in the country. Kurdish forces announced a new push today on Bashiqa northeast of Mosul where some 10,000 fighters are engaged in a huge assault to take the IS-held town.<br/><br/>The push came with US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter in Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan to support the unprecedented offensive, which a US-led coalition is backing with air and ground support. Launched last Monday, the assault aims to reclaim the last major Iraqi city under IS control, dealing another setback to the militants' self-declared caliphate in Iraq and neighboring Syria.