Civilians complicate final phase of Mosul campaign - U.S. commander

U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel James Browning, the partnered advisor to the Iraqi 9th Armoured Division and commander of Taskforce Fury, listens to Lieutenant General Qassem al-Maliki (L), commander of the Iraqi army's Ninth Armoured Division, at a military base southwest of Mosul, Iraq April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

SOUTHWEST OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - The Islamic State fighters herded a group of civilians into a house in the city of Mosul and locked them inside as Iraqi forces advanced. Moments later, the militants entered through a window, lay low for a few minutes, then fired their weapons.

The plan was simple. They would draw attention to the house by firing from the windows, then move to an adjacent building through a hole in the wall, in hope of goading coalition jets flying above to strike the house.