Iraq forces launch battle to retake IS stronghold Mosul
AFP
AFP, AL-SHURA, Iraq: Iraqi forces launched an offensive Monday to retake Mosul and deal a death blow to the Islamic State groups caliphate in the city where it was declared two years ago.
The start of the long-awaited assault raised deep concerns for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in Iraqs second-largest city, with aid groups warning of a massive humanitarian crisis.
Some 30,000 federal forces are leading the offensive, backed by air and ground support from a 60-nation US-led coalition, in what is expected to be a long and difficult assault on ISs last major Iraqi stronghold.Iraqi forces could be seen readying weapons and ammunitions as columns of armoured vehicles headed towards Mosul from the town of Al-Shura, some 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of the city.The Pentagon described the operation as a decisive moment in the fight against IS but the US-led coalitions top commander warned it could last weeks or more.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the beginning of the assault in a televised address in the early hours of Monday.
Today I declare the start of these victorious operations to free you from the violence and terrorism of Daesh (IS), Abadi said.
IS seized control of large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in mid-2014, declaring a cross-border caliphate and committing widespread atrocities.
The jihadists have suffered a string of territorial defeats this year in both countries, and the retaking of Mosul would all but end the groups presence in Iraq as a land-holding force.
Iraqi forces have been closing in on Mosul in recent weeks but the battle launched on Monday could be the toughest yet in the fight against IS.
IS forces are vastly outnumbered, with the US military estimating that 3,000 to 4,500 jihadists are in the city and surrounding area.
But they have had months to prepare and will seek to use hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, snipers, bombs, berms and trenches to slow down and bleed Iraqi forces.
As the assault began, federal forces moved from their main staging base of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, while peshmerga forces from the autonomous Kurdish region advanced from the east.
Around 4,000 Kurdish peshmerga took part in a push to reclaim villages once inhabited by members of the Christian and Kakai minorities, a statement said.
At a staging area near the village of Khazir east of Mosul, Kurdish forces could be seen firing artillery and rockets as smoke rose from houses in the distance.
Abadi stressed that only Iraqi police and army would enter the city.
The force leading liberation operations is the brave Iraqi army with the national police and they are the ones that will enter Mosul, not others, he said.
Resentment among Mosuls Sunni majority against Shiite-dominated security forces was one of the reasons IS faced so little resistance when it swept into the city.
Tehran-backed Shiite militia groups have been accused of serious abuses against Sunni civilians during operations to retake areas from IS.
The United Nations and other aid organisations warned that a huge number of civilians were in immediate danger.
I am extremely concerned for the safety of up to 1.5 million people, the UN deputy secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, Stephen OBrien, said.
Depending on the intensity and scope of the fighting, as many as one million people may be forced to flee their homes in a worst-case scenario, OBrien said in a statement.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said safe exits from Mosul must be provided or civilians will be faced with the bleakest of choices: stay behind and risk their lives under attack, or risk their lives trying to flee.
