Iraqi Special Forces arrive at Khazer front, AP photo taken from a video
The Iraqi Army continued to deploy around Mosul on Wednesday, gearing up to move against the last urban stronghold of the Islamic State group in Iraq.
Armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, belonging to Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service, or special forces, were seen arriving at the Khazer frontline east of Mosul, with cheering onlookers lining the roads.
Regular armoured units were also seen moving to the town of Telskof, north of Mosul.
The arrival of the Iraqi Army in these areas is significant because the frontlines north and east of the city are controlled by the Kurdish regional government's peshmerga forces.
The deployment suggests that the Iraqi Army will attempt to attack Mosul from at least three different directions with other army units deployed south of the city.
Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, has promised that Mosul would be liberated by the end of the year and there has been intense speculation in recent weeks that an attack on the city is imminent.
The operation to retake Mosul is expected to be the most complex yet for Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air-power.
Iraq's military is still rebuilding after nearly a third of its forces disintegrated when Mosul first fell to IS more than two years ago.
Since then the extremists have been pushed from more than half of the territory they once held in Iraq, according to figures released by al-Abadi's office.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment