In Iraq, forces have a third front in the offensive to take back Mosul but ISIL fighters put up stiff resistance, unleashing a wave of vehicle-borne suicide bombers, while leaving a deadly trail of hidden explosive devices. Iraq's government said yesterday that its soldiers advanced from the south and east, while Kurdish Peshmerga fighters moved in from the north and east on the country's second-largest city. <br/><br/>Attack helicopters strafed ISIL positions as Iraq's special forces entered the town of Bartella, 15 kilometers east of Mosul's outskirts, said Major-General Fadhil Barwari. He said ISIL had few defences in the town, which was almost completely empty of civilians. ISIL fighters drove at least nine suicide car and truck bombs against the advancing troops, eight of which were destroyed before reaching their targets, while the ninth struck an armoured Humvee. <br/><br/>The deadly defence offered a glimpse at what Iraqi forces can expect as they approach ISIL's biggest urban bastion. The area of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul, also remained besieged and Iraqi forces were fighting to take villages surrounding it. The US military announced the first American death since the operation began. The US soldier died on yesterday from wounds sustained in a roadside bomb explosion in northern Iraq, though the army did not specify where. <br/><br/>The offensive is the largest operation launched by Iraqi forces since the 2003 US-led invasion. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told an international meeting in Paris that the four-day-old offensive is advancing faster than expected. France and Iraq were co-chairing the meeting on the future of Mosul, which observers have warned could raise even greater humanitarian and interconfessional challenges than the massive military operation to retake it.