BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on the developments in Iraq as government forces and their allies press ahead in the battle for IS-held city of Mosul (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

A Turkish official says between 100,000 and 400,000 people could flee the fighting in Mosul and make their way toward Syria, Iraq's Kurdish-administrated region or the border with Turkey.

Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Crescent organization, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the "humanitarian aspect" of the Mosul operation had not been well thought out by the coalition forces.

He warns that with more than 3 million people already displaced in Iraq, officials would struggle to cope with the exodus. Kinik says his organization was working with officials in northern Iraq and the Iraqi Red Crescent to help support humanitarian efforts there. Some 20 Turkish aid trucks had been dispatched to the region.

New camps for up to 20,000 families are under construction by international aid agencies in northern Iraq and could be ready within a week.

The Turkish official said he believes the refugees would mostly be "taken under control" within Iraq, but added that Turkey is prepared for a refugee influx.

___ 1:10 p.m. A senior Iraqi military commander has called on local fighters with the Islamic State group inside Mosul to lay down their weapons as a wide-scale operation is underway to retake the city.

Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, told reporters at a military base on Tuesday that up to 6,000 IS fighters are still inside the city. He did not say how many of them are foreigners.

IS captured Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, when it swept across much of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014. The group has suffered a string of defeats over the past year, and Mosul is its last major urban bastion in Iraq.

The push to retake Mosul is the biggest military operation in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011.

12:45 p.m.

Iraqi and Kurdish authorities are setting up a refugee camp with some 5,000 tents east of Mosul as they brace for an influx of people fleeing a massive offensive to retake the Islamic State-held city.

Project manager Prezzo Mikael said on Wednesday that the camp is nearly complete, with running water, electricity and food.

The massive operation launched on Monday is expected to take weeks or months. Mosul, which fell to IS in 2014, is still home to more than a million people. The camp is prepared to receive 5,000 families.

Iraqi authorities have called on people to remain in their homes, but are also preparing humanitarian corridors for them to escape the fighting.

11:30 a.m.

Islamic State militants have deployed suicide car bombs and fired mortar rounds to slow down the advance of Iraqi troops outside a key town near the militant-held city of Mosul.

An officer with the Iraqi army's 9th Division told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his troops are around 1 kilometer (half mile) away from Hamdaniyah, a historically Christian town also known as Bakhdida.

He says IS has sent 12 car bombs since Tuesday, all of which were blown up before reaching their targets. He says troops suffered a small number of casualties from the mortar rounds, without providing figures.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

Iraq launched a massive operation on Monday to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city.

—Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Khazer, Iraq.