TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Special Forces moved more than 1,000 people from villages near the front lines of the battle to retake the ISIL-held city of Mosul.

The Iraqi Army Special Forces Major General Haider Fadhil said the residents of Tob Zawa and other nearby villages have been taken to a camp in the nearby Khazer region for their safety, Alaraby reported.

The Special Forces began undertaking clean up operations on Wednesday in areas retaken from the militants to the East of the city.

He says troops had uncovered a vast tunnel network used by ISIL to shuttle fighters and supplies by motorcycle.

The advance on Mosul, Iraq's second city, has been rapid so far. Villages emptied of their populations since the arrival of the militants in mid-2014 were quickly retaken.

Just a few inhabited villages lie ahead of them now, and they are evacuating the people who live there.

By Fars News Agency