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ByQassimAbdul-Zahra and Joseph Krauss The Associated Press KHAZER, IRAQ Iraqiforces explored a network of tun- nels and uncovered a bomb- making facility on Thurs- day in a village near Mosul that was recently retaken from the Islamic State group, offering a glimpse of the challenge they will face as they move closer to the city. Ten days into the offen- sive, the special forces are still at least 4 miles east of the city and have faced stiff resistance, with IS fir- ing mortars and machine guns, and sending ar- mored suicide truck bombs trundling across the arid plains. Once inside the small, sparsely populated villages that ring Mosul, Iraqi forces must contend with explo- sive booby-traps and hid- den snipers. The fortifica- tions are expected to grow even more lethally daunting once they enter Iraq's sec- ond-largest city. The extremists captured Mosul in a matter of days in 2014, and have had more than two years to build up its defenses and brutally root out any internal oppo- sition. The operation to re- take the northern city is ex- pected to take weeks, if not months. Iraqi forces approach- ing Mosul from the south, meanwhile, are still 20 miles from the city, and the special forces to the east said they will not push ahead until the other forces are able to tighten the noose. Iraqi army Maj. Gen. Na- jim al-Jabori said forces south of Mosul retook the town of Staff al-Tut in the Tigris River valley on Wednesday, and said lo- cal tribal and militia forces have been deployed to pro- tect the gains while his troops regroup for their next advance. Special forces Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil neverthe- less insisted things were on track. "The operation has not been stopped and is proceeding as planned," he said. During cleanup oper- ations in the area of Tob Zawa, his men found a tire shop that had been con- verted into a factory for making roadside bombs and attaching armor to ve- hicles. They also found a tun- nel equipped with fans and lights that ran from beneath a mosque out to a road. Iraqi forces have found extensive tunneling networks in areas retaken from IS, which the militants used to elude U.S.-led coali- tion warplanes. Many fear IS may resort to more brutal tactics as the forces converge on the city, which is still home to more than a million people. The U.N.'s public health agency says it has trained 90 Iraqi medics in "mass casualty management," with a special focus on chemical attacks. The ex- tremist group is believed to have crude chemical weap- ons capabilities, and Iraqi forces say they are prepared to encounter them on the battlefield. The World Health Or- ganization said that of the 700,000 people expected to flee Mosul, some 200,000 will require emergency health services, including more than 90,000 children needing vaccinations and 8,000 pregnant women. The International Orga- nization for Migration says around 9,000 people have fled so far. It's a relatively small number, but until now, the battles have taken place in small farming com- munities that were mostly abandoned. The United Nations' ref- ugee agency is shipping tents, blankets and other aid from the United Arab Emirates to northern Iraq to help those affected by the military campaign. So- liman Mohamed Daud, a se- nior UNHCR supply officer, told The Associated Press that 7,000 units of the re- lief aid will be sent to north- ern Iraq starting Thursday. The Mosul offensive is the largest Iraqi military operation since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and in- volves more than 25,000 Iraqi soldiers, federal po- lice, Kurdish forces, Sunni tribal fighters and state- sanctioned Shiite militias. It marks the first time that Iraq's largely autono- mous Kurdish region has allowed federal forces to operate in its territory since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but the two sides remain deeply divided over the bound- aries of the Kurdish re- gion and the sharing of the country's oil wealth. OFFENSIVE Iraqisfindbombfactory, tu nn el s on r oa d to M os ul MARKODROBNJAKOVIC—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A family grieves over the grave of a family member at a graveyard damaged by Islamic State extremists in Qayara, some 31miles south of Mosul, Iraq, on Thursday. DUSAN VRANIC — NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Workers remove the top marble layer of the tomb said to be of Jesus Christ, in the Church of Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. By Daniel Estrin The Associated Press JERUSALEM In the inner- most chamber of the site said to be the tomb of Je- sus, a restoration team has peeled away a marble layer for the first time in centu- ries in an effort to reach what it believes is the orig- inal rock surface where Je- sus' body was laid. Many historians have long believed that the original cave, identified a few centuries after Jesus' death as his tomb, was obliterated ages ago. But an archaeologist ac- companying the restora- tion team said ground pen- etrating radar tests deter- mined that cave walls are in fact standing — at a height of six feet and con- nected to bedrock — be- hind the marbled panels of the chamber at the cen- ter of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. "What was found," said National Geographic archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert, "is astonishing." The work is part of a historic renovation proj- ect to reinforce and pre- serve the Edicule, the chamber housing the cave where Jesus is said to have been entombed and resur- rected. It is the centerpiece of one of Christianity's old- est churches and one of its most important shrines. "I usually spend my time in Tut's tomb," said Hiebert about the Egyp- tian pharaoh Tutankha- mun's burial site, "but this is more important." National Geographic is partnering with Greek res- toration experts to docu- ment the work. A 12th-century building sitting on 4th-century re- mains, the Church of the Holy Sepluchre is the only place where six Christian denominations practice their faith at the same site. The Edicule was last re- stored in 1810 following a fire, and is in need of re- inforcement after years of exposure to humidity and candle smoke. A hulking iron cage built around the Edicule by British authori- ties in 1947 for support still stands, but is not enough. Renovations at this holi- est of spots require mutual agreement by the church's various custodians, and that is notoriously hard to secure. The denominations jealously guard different parts of the site and often object to even the slightest of changes. Last year, Israeli po- lice briefly shut down the building after Israel's An- tiquities Authority deemed it unsafe. Experts uncover hidden layers of Jesus' tomb site JERUSALEM BennyBrown'sCORNING CHEVY CORNING CHEVY.COM NEW NEW NEW NEW BENNY BROWN'S CORNING CHEVY 2087SolanoStreet|CORNING|1-800-649-7253or530-824-5171 SALES: MON-FRI: 8AM-7PM, SAT: 9AM-6PM, SUN: 10AM-5PM | SERVICE: MON-FRI: 7:30AM-5:30PM Se Habla Español pregunta por Omar Gutierrez *Payments based on 10% down plus tax, license, smog & doc. fees, at 84 months at 3.99% interest. On approval of credit. (1) *Excludes Chevy Colorado and Chevy Corvette. All prices plus government fees and taxes, any finance charge, any dealer document, preparation charge and any emission charge. 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