ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— The Islamic State (ISIS) Friday preacher in Mosul called on the local population to prepare for “an expected military operation on the city by Iraqi security and Peshmerga forces,” ensuring people that ISIS has a “vision” for the region’s future.
“We expect battles with the Safavid army and the Peshmerga and urge you to prepare to fight until martyrdom or victory,” said ISIS official preacher Abu Asaad al-Ansari in his Friday sermon. “The leadership of the Islamic State has a clear vision for the coming days and that requires taking precautions as the Iraqi army prepares for a wide scale military operation,”
Baghdad and Erbil have stepped up military and intelligence cooperation in the areas northwest of Iraq while coalition fighter jets have intensified their air strikes against ISIS positions.
Al-Ansari claimed that the Kurdish Peshmerga have not been able to reverse the territorial gains made by ISIS after it took control of Mosul last summer.
“The Iraqi army and the Peshmerga, along with the international coalition did not make a single step toward Mosul since the establishment of the Islamic state,” he told the local people over loudspeakers, also attended by ISIS officials.
Kurdish forces are engaged in fierce fighting with ISIS militants along hundreds of miles of shared border, but Kurdish leaders have said that the liberation of Mosul from the radical group falls on the shoulders of the Sunni population.
Speaking at the Omar bin al-Khatab mosque, the ISIS preacher said that the group has detained a number of government agents who had infiltrated Mosul city.
Al-Ansari called on people in Mosul to volunteer and join the ISIS ranks for Jihad, saying the group needs more fighters.
In the meantime, al-Ansari warned against anyone spying for the enemy and vowed severe penalties.
In his last week’s sermon al-Ansari hailed the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that killed 12 journalists, saying ISIS had revenged coalition air strikes against Mosul and he vowed that ISIS “will take the holy war to Europe.”
