Surrounded by destruction, battle for Mosul nears an end - in pictures

Narrow streets and closely spaced buildings combined with a large civilian population have made for an extremely difficult fight

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  Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) gather outside the destroyed gate of the Al-Nuri Mosque while others inspect the interiors, in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017. AFP

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  Civilians flee through a destroyed alley as Iraqi Special Forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, July 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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  A family walks past the destroyed Al Nuri Mosque as they struggle to muster the energy to escape the old city, where heavy fighting and an intense bombardment is exacting a high toll on civilians. Florian Neuhof / The National

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  A mosque is seen in the Old City in Mosul, Iraq July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

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  A girl stops in exhaustion while fleeing through an alley, as Iraqi Special Forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants, in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, July 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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  An exhausted Iraqi woman takes a break while fleeing through a destroyed street, as Iraqi Special Forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants, in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, July 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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  TOPSHOT - An Iraqi woman carries a child as she walks through the rubble in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017, during the offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. More than eight months since the country's forces launched a gruelling operation to retake Mosul, IS has gone from fully controlling the city to holding a few neighbourhoods on its western side. / AFP PHOTO / Fadel SENNA

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  TOPSHOT - A man walks by destroyed vehicles in a street in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017, during the offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. More than eight months since the country's forces launched a gruelling operation to retake Mosul, IS has gone from fully controlling the city to holding a few neighbourhoods on its western side. / AFP PHOTO / Fadel SENNA

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  TOPSHOT - A man carries two children in his arms hile fleeing from the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017, as Iraqi government forces continue their offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

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  A destroyed mosque in the Old City of Mosul, during the government forces' offensive to retake the city from ISIS fighters. AFP

ISIL has stepped up suicide attacks as it seeks to hold off Iraqi forces in the final stages of the battle for Mosul, a senior commander said on Monday.

More than eight months after the operation to retake Mosul was launched, ISIL has gone from fully controlling the city to holding a limited area on its western side.

"The enemy has been using suicide bombers, especially women, for the past three days in some of the neighbourhoods," said Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, a senior commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS).

"Before that, they were using snipers and bombs more," he said.

"There are still at least 200 fighters from the (ISIL) organisation" in Mosul, most of them foreigners, he said.

Iraqi forces have been closing in on the Old City in west Mosul for months, but its narrow streets and closely spaced buildings combined with a large civilian population made for an extremely difficult fight.

Civilians fleeing the fighting are receiving treatment at a makeshift clinic in Mosul.

"People come from the Old City of Mosul, where fierce fighting is taking place. They're running away from (ISIL), running away from death, hunger and fear," said Nazar Salih, a doctor at the clinic.

* Agence France-Presse