Iraqi soldiers hold a flag that they seized from ISIS as they hold a position near the frontline on April 9 in the town of Kharbardan, located 10 kms south of Qayyarah.

A military source in Iraq has confirmed military efforts to reclaim Qayyarah, a Mosul district, from ISIS in a dawn operation.

Counter-terrorism units are taking part in the operation alongside the Iraqi army.

Iraqi officials said the priority of the operation is to save and protect civilians in the area being used by ISIS as human shields.

The operations comes a day after six Iraqi civilians were killed when a bomb planted by the ISIS group went off as they tried to flee the Hawijah area, security officials said.

Thousands of people have been fleeing ISIS rule in Hawijah, which lies about 220 kilometres (140 miles) north of Baghdad, in recent weeks.

“Six civilians were killed and five wounded by an IED (improvised explosive device),” a colonel in the Kurdish peshmerga forces told AFP.