Iraqi forces on Friday made territorial gains against Daesh in the extremist militia's stronghold of Mosul, a senior army officer said.
The elite anti-terrorism forces "liberated" six districts in the eastern part of Mosul, Abdul Amir Rasheed, the commander of the government campaign in the city, added.
"The Iraqi flag has been raised on top of buildings in these districts after the forces inflicted casualties and hardware losses on the enemy," he added in a statement, without giving details.
The reported advance comes a day after Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, released an audio recording in which he called on his fighters not to retreat from Mosul.
On October 17, government forces, backed by a US-led air alliance, started a long-awaited campaign to retake Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
Daesh has since carried out a series of counter-attacks in other parts of Iraq in response to the Mosul campaign.
On Friday, the radical organization attacked Iraqi forces in the town of Sharqat, south of Mosul, killing 20 people including 10 civilians, a local official said.
At least 20 militants were killed in clashes with government fighters in the town following the pre-dawn attack, Ahmed al-Jabouri, the governor of the northern province of Salah al-Din, said.
"Security forces and tribal fighters are in full control of the the town," al-Jabouri told reporters.
"Search operations are going on in some districts inflitared by Daesh elements as a curfew is still in place in the town," he added, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Iraq recaptured Sharqat, located some 290 kilometres north of Baghdad, from Daesh in September.
Mosul has been under Daesh control since mid-2014.
In recent months, the al-Qaeda splinter group has suffered military setbacks and lost ground in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
