Iraq Forces Launch Operation to Retake West Mosul – PM: http://ift.tt/2kV27UM![Iraqi Army soldiers deploy after defeating Islamic State militants in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. The U.N. and several aid organisations say an estimated 750,000 civilians are still living under Islamic State rule in Mosul despite recent advances by Iraqi forces, and Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday declared eastern Mosul]()
(AFP) Iraqi forces launched an offensive on jihadists defending Mosul’s west bank Sunday, in what could be the most brutal fighting yet in a four-month-old operation on the city. “Our forces are beginning the liberation of the citizens from the terror of Daesh,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a short televised speech, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “We announce the start of a new phase in the operation. We are coming, Nineveh, to liberate the western side of Mosul,” he said, referring to the province of which Mosul is the capital. Federal police and interior ministry forces were expected to start the new phase in the offensive by moving on Mosul airport, which is on the southern edge of the city, west of the Tigris River. The jihadists have put up stiff resistance to defend Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq and the place where their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014. After shaping operations around Mosul, it took Iraq’s most seasoned forces—the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) — more than two months to clear the eastern side of Mosul. After a pause in the operation launched on October 17, federal finish reading at http://ift.tt/2l8SqoK
(AFP) Iraqi forces launched an offensive on jihadists defending Mosul’s west bank Sunday, in what could be the most brutal fighting yet in a four-month-old operation on the city. “Our forces are beginning the liberation of the citizens from the terror of Daesh,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a short televised speech, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “We announce the start of a new phase in the operation. We are coming, Nineveh, to liberate the western side of Mosul,” he said, referring to the province of which Mosul is the capital. Federal police and interior ministry forces were expected to start the new phase in the offensive by moving on Mosul airport, which is on the southern edge of the city, west of the Tigris River. The jihadists have put up stiff resistance to defend Mosul, their last major stronghold in Iraq and the place where their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014. After shaping operations around Mosul, it took Iraq’s most seasoned forces—the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) — more than two months to clear the eastern side of Mosul. After a pause in the operation launched on October 17, federal finish reading at http://ift.tt/2l8SqoK