Iraqi forces in Mosul mostly in refit mode - U.S. general

Military vehicles of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) gather during a battle with Islamic State militants in Qadisiyah neighborhood north of Mosul, Iraq, December 14, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces battling to retake Islamic State's last major stronghold - Mosul - have entered a planned operational refit, a top U.S. general in the international coalition backing Baghdad said, the first significant pause of the campaign.

Elite soldiers have retaken a quarter of the northern city, but their advance has been slow and punishing. Several thousand Iraqi federal police were redeployed from the southern outskirts last week to reinforce the eastern front.