Hundreds of civilians trying to escape from the embattled Iraqi city of Mosul were killed by the Islamic State earlier this week, with bodies being hung from electrical poles across the city, according to a report from the region on Friday.

"On Monday and Tuesday, IS massacred 140 civilians fleeing to areas controlled by Iraqi forces," Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw cited tweets by the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) as saying.

"Some bodies were later hung on electrical poles in (the) Eslah, Zirai and Tanak neighbourhoods. Others were taken to nearby front lines," the KRSC wrote.

Eslah and Tanak are located in western Mosul, where government forces began an assault last month to dislodge IS fighters.

Fierce fighting has continued in western Mosul as Iraqi forces battle to retake the Old City, where 400,000 people are believed to be living.

Iraqi forces began an offensive in mid-October to oust IS from Mosul and now control the east of Mosul, Iraq's second city.

IS captured Mosul in June 2014 and declared it the capital of its Islamic 'caliphate' stretching across swathes of territory it seized in Iraq and Syria during a lightening offensive. 

IS atrocities, including mass killings, public executions and murders of fleeing civilians have been widely reported in Mosul.

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