IRAQI forces advanced closer to the Islamic State (Isis) stronghold city of Mosul yesterday — and to a base held by Turkish troops against Baghdad’s will.

The peshmerga forces of the Turkey-friendly Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said they had “cordoned off” eight villages north-east of Mosul and were less than five-and-a-half miles from its outskirts.

Meanwhile the army surrounded the nearby town of Bashiqa, close to the Turkish military base.