KHAZER, Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says the battle to oust Islamic State extremists from Mosul is going "more quickly than we thought."

Al-Abadi spoke in a video transmission today to a diplomatic meeting about Mosul in Paris about stabilizing Iraq's second-largest city. He didn't provide details about the fighting.

Al-Abadi said that "our forces have started to move forward to free this city which was taken by IS over two years ago. The fighting forces are currently pushing forward towards the town more quickly than we thought, and more quickly certainly than we established in our plan of campaign."

Authorities have said they expect the battle to take weeks or even months.