Iraqi forces battled the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) on Friday (March 10th) in west Mosul, where coalition warplanes killed three of the group's foreign leaders, officials told Diyaruna.

Troops have assaulted the neighbourhoods of al-Nabi Sheet and al-Okaidat and retaken them from ISIL on Friday following "violent" ground battles supported by the international coalition, Ninawa operations commander Lt. Gen. Abdul Ameer Rashid Yarallah said.

They now continue their advance towards other neighbourhoods after a large scale search and clear operation to secure the liberated areas, he said.

"Iraqi forces are advancing towards al-Seha and al-Matahen neighbourhoods," he said, adding that ISIL has suffered heavy losses in terms of assets and lives.

Meanwhile, international coalition fighter jets targeted the hideout of three foreign ISIL leaders in west Mosul's Tamuz neighbourhood, killing all three of them, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Among the leaders who were killed is Abu Aisha, a Tajik, who specialised in rigging vehicles with explosives and making weapons, the statement said. Abu Aisha was the mastermind behind installing weapons on drones.

"The second leader was Wazirov, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Rusi, a Russian aircraft engineer," it said.

"The third leader is Abu Omar al-Faransi, a Tunisian-born French expert on engines and a former manager at Mercedes," the statement said.