troops liberated eastern mosul last month are and moving into the western part of the city. it has been slower than anticipated. if they are successful, it would be a major victory over the terrorist group but the stakes are high as you might imagine, hundreds of thousands of people live inside the isis controlled half of mosul. kitty logan with more. >> reporter: early morning local time, iraqi troops made rapid progress today but are expecting things to get much tougher as they move towards residential areas. iraqi military police seized several villages on the west side of the city in the first few hours. the next step is to take control of the airport also to the south but the battle is likely to get much tougher when they reach the narrow streets in the west of the city. but today iraqi troops went in with full force, convoys of armored vehicles on the ground backed by helicopter rocket attacks and crucially coalition airstrikes targeting militant