article_snippet: Besides the direct threat posed by ISIS fighters, the Iraqi forces must also avoid the large numbers of homemade bombs that litter the approaches to the city.
article_snippet: ISIS released a number of propaganda images Wednesday, showing several vehicles and dozens of ISIS militants with several vehicles and dozens of ISIS militants with their weapons, which it said were part of a military reinforcement of Salahuddin province weapons, which it said were part of a military reinforcement of Salahuddin province.
article_snippet: ISIS, the radical Sunni militant group, has been on a murderous campaign to establish a caliphate across swaths of Iraq and Syria.
article_snippet: What awaits the Iraqi army is most likely a long, hard slog and not a quick rout.
article_snippet: While Iraqi forces have gained some territory in the area, it has generally been under ISIS control for the last eight months or so.
article_snippet: The offensive involves around 30,000 fighters in all.