WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Iraqi troops are tightening the news on ISIS fighters as they liberate more towns on their way into Mosul. In one town today, they killed 35 ISIS militants including suicide bombers. There are growing concerns over witness accounts that ISIS has rounded up thousands of civilians and moved them inside the city. CNN's Michael Holmes is in nearby Irbil, Iraq. So Michael, what more do you know about what's happening?</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, they are making advances on the battlefield. It is not uniform, though. The town you mentioned is about 25 kilometers from the outskirts of Mosul. In places, Iraqi and Kurdish forces can actually see the outskirts. They have to bring it up and a more consolidated position. The Americans were saying, in fact, on Friday night, some units would pause and wait for others to catch up. Iraqi commanders rejected that immediately and contradicted it and said that's inaccurate and they are pushing on. One important development, popular mobilization unit, they are Shia paramilitaries. They announced today that they are launching operations to the west of Mosul. Now that's going to put thousands more fighters into an area of concern. It is an area that ISIS controls and from which they have been able to cross back and forth from Mosul into Syria where, of course, is the ISIS de facto capital, Raqqa. Now you did mention this, too, increasing numbers of civilians, tens of thousands being forced from their homes on the outskirts of the city, basically put into trust and taken into the center of town and dumped there. We are talking women, children and the elderly, some in poor condition, left without food or water or place to stay, and just being dumped there as human shields. We also just got word a short time ago that another 70 men, former security officers in Mosul were rounded up, taken out today, shot and killed by ISIS -- Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Michael Holmes, appreciate it. We'll be right back after this.
Witnesses: Thousands Of Civilians Rounded Up By ISIS.