Islamic State said to lose ground as coalition closes on Mosul

By Maher Chmaytelli and Michael Georgy BAGHDAD/ERBIL (Reuters) - Iraqi and Kurdish forces closing in on Mosul said on Tuesday they had secured some 20 villages on the outskirts of the city in the first day of an operation to retake what is Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq. With around 1.5 million people still living in Mosul, the International Organisation for Migration said it was preparing gas masks in case of chemical attack by the jihadists, who had used such weapons previously