New Iraqi troops arrive in Makhmour to join Mosul battle force

08-03-2016
Rudaw
Tags: Iraqi army Mosul offensive Makhmour
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A fifth group of Iraqi troops arrived in the Makhmour front on Monday night to join forces being readied in the area for the long-anticipated battle for Mosul, a frontline Peshmerga commander said.

"For security reasons, the Iraqi army forces will be based at a temporary military base in Makhmour in separate units and last night a number of Iraqi army's 15th division arrived at the base," the Peshmerga commander told Rudaw.

The source added that the soldiers have already undergone military training in Baghdad.

Sirwan Barzani, Peshmerga commander of the Gwer-Makhmour front said the deployment of Iraqi troops to the area was done in agreement between the Peshmerga ministry and Iraq’s defense department.

Baghdad announced last month that 4,500 soldiers would be deployed to Makhmour in the Nineveh plains to participate in the Mosul offensive.

The first batch of the troops arrived on February 9.

US officials in Iraq have confirmed the establishment of a joint command center in the area to gather Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni fighters under one umbrella for the upcoming battle.

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

Required
Required