Afrasianet - Iraqi forces have launched a West Mosul offensive against ISIS, Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi said on Sunday morning.

Overnight, the Iraqi air force dropped millions of leaflets on the western side of Mosul telling the population that a ground offensive to dislodge ISIS from their neighborhoods was imminent, the Defense Ministry said.

The militants are essentially under siege in western Mosul, along with an estimated 650,000 civilians, after US-backed forces surrounding the city dislodged them from the east in the first phase of an offensive that concluded last month.

The leaflets "contain instructions for the citizens to get ready to welcome the Iraqi forces that are coming to liberate their areas and to warn Daesh members to lay down their weapons and surrender," the ministry said in a stateme.