Cash-strapped extremists punching holes in people's homes to move across west Mosul undetected are now asking victims to pay for the labour, AFP reported Sunday (February 5th).

The fee is a modest 7,000 Iraqi dinars (around $5) but adds insult to injury, said residents of Mosul's west bank, where the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) is digging in for a planned offensive by the Iraqi security forces.

"ISIL is smashing holes in the walls of our homes without giving us a choice," said a resident of an area known as "Pepsi street" who gave his name as Abu Asaad.

"And they are forcing residents to pay 7,000 dinars to the workers who just destroyed their homes," said Abu Asaad, who was among what he said were hundreds who had suffered the same fate.

He said ISIL members told affected residents that the generated income would contribute to financing their defence of west Mosul against the security forces.

"They gave us a choice to stay in our homes with the walls or leave," said Abu Asaad.

Most residents of west Mosul have little or no electricity and winter temperatures have regularly dipped below zero at night.

The string of holes in adjacent homes acts like a street-level tunnel that allows fighters to move without losing their cover from Iraqi and international coalition.

At dawn Monday, Iraqi forces started to engage the first lines of confrontation with ISIL in west Mosul, joint operations command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya al-Zubaidi told Diyaruna.

"Joint forces launched a rocket attack on ISIL positions and fortifications in the areas of al-Sanjaq, Tal al-Rumman and al-Naharwan," he said.

Meanwhile, more than 1 million new leaflets were airdropped that contain information and safety instructions for the residents, he said.