Iraqi forces said they launched new assaults in Mosul's Old City on Monday after more than two weeks of only small advances and a high civilian death toll appeared to prompt a change in tactics.
A March 17 explosion that killed between 60 and 240 people, according to conflicting accounts, cast a shadow over the U.S.-backed offensive to drive Islamic State (IS) militants out of Iraq's second largest city, and the parliament speaker spoke of ceasing operations until civilian casualties could be avoided.
The onslaught to oust Islamic State from its last major Iraq stronghold has since October recaptured the whole east side of Mosul and half of the west, which contains the ancient quarter from where IS proclaimed its caliphate spanning large tracts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.