As the battle to retake Mosul continues, so, too, does the mass exodus of civilians.
The United Nations says at least 68,000 people have fled the fighting, including more than 8,000 over the past four days.
Many, including this man, Salah Mohsin, have fled from IS, also known as ISIS, in the eastern and southern outskirts of Mosul to reach safer areas controlled by the army.
"ISIS (is) over there. I escaped. There is fighting, but there are a few ... a few ISIS there. Now, the army will enter the area. The army will get them, God willing. They all ran away ... all ran away."
The UN estimates do not include the 3,000 families that have fled Tal Afar, a key IS-held town west of Mosul.
Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary groups say they have seized that town, which sits on the road between Mosul and Raqqa, the main cities under IS control in Iraq and Syria.
They claim they have now cut off the road, which would mean, while IS still controls a large pocket of Mosul, it has no link to the outside world.
That is a significant step for the offensive, but a dire one for Tal Afar's civilians, who are headed towards IS-controlled territory where aid cannot be reached.
Meanwhile, advances are being made elsewhere.
Iraqi army colonel Mohammed Bilal says government fighters have recaptured Qara Tapa village, south-east of Mosul.
"Today, we've got an operation to free this area, south-east of Hamdania. You can see all the army today from the 9th Armoured Division, with General Riyadh. He is an Iraqi ground-force commander. Today, we freed all this village, Qara Tapa village and Yargandi village."
Government forces are also making progress in eastern districts, but, again, at the expense of civilians.
Many heavily populated neighbourhoods have turned into scenes of intense fighting.
An Iraqi Special Operation Forces soldier, Hussein Yousef, says the army is being careful not to endanger the civilians in taking on IS, also known as Daesh.
"We protected the civilians. We can kill Daesh members while, at the same time, protecting civilians. We don't want civilians to be in danger."
The Iraqi army has bombed bridges to make it more difficult for IS to redeploy its forces around the city.
A recent air strike to disable the city's bridges has left Mosul with just one still functioning.
A new battalion is pushing north to meet with the 6th Brigade, advancing from the north.
Iraqi Special Operation Forces captain Aysar Aloqabi says momentum is building.
"Every day, we have to push, okay. Every day, we are going to the front, and ISIS is going to the rear. And we will defeat them."
If the push succeeds, the whole eastern part of Mosul will become one front, which will ultimately be pushed west towards the centre of the city.
But the operation is complicated.
The IS militants are embedded among more than a million civilians, a strategy to counter air strikes.
Retired Iraqi army officer and military analyst Abdul Karim Khalaf says there is also extensive use of car bombs and human shields, further delaying the advance of Iraqi forces.
"Honestly, the most important weapon Daesh has is the car bomb. We are talking here about more than 300 car bombs they have used, and that is the biggest number in all the battles -- it's unprecedented. The counter-terrorism service and the air force are the most capable forces to counter this threat. In the beginning of the operation, it was easy to deal with this issue. They deployed all the anti-tank forces in the front lines, and the air force was assigned the mission to destroy these car bombs when they move. More than 125 car bombs were destroyed in this way before reaching their targets."
