ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Peshmerga forces captured several villages around Mosul on Friday and shelled the city center for the first time, as an expected assault to liberate the city from the Islamic State (ISIS) appeared to be gaining momentum.
Sarbast Tirwanshi, Peshmerga commander of the Tikel-Mawaran front, told Rudaw that Kurdish forces targeted three ISIS bases in the villages of Khorbasat and Baibogh with mortars.
For the first time, the Peshmerga managed to shell the center of Mosul, after aiming their guns on villages near the city from the early morning hours.
Meanwhile Commander Jamal Iminiki, chief of staff of Peshmerga forces, told Rudaw that the villages of Qadisia and Shidokha were captured Friday by Kurdish troops. They are strategically important to ISIS due to their close proximity to the militants’ military stronghold of Kaske.
On Wednesday, the Peshmerga forces launched a major offensive against ISIS west of Mosul to assist Iraqi troops in their effort to retake the city from the radical group.
Iraqi and coalition fighter jets led that fight by bombing ISIS positions, while the Peshmerga pounded the militants with heavy artillery on the ground.
Iraqi officials had earlier said that the Mosul operation might be launched in spring. They heavy, multipronged attacks on ISIS appear to indicate the preliminary parts of the may already be underway.
Kurdish leaders have said that their forces would not get involved in the liberation of Mosul, as they want to avoid igniting an Arab-Kurdish war, but they pledged to assist the Iraqi army in the effort.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that preparations are underway for a coalition of U.S. and Iraqi forces to retake Mosul from ISIS, and that the assault could come by the spring or early summer.
Meanwhile, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, who is the general commander of the Peshmerga forces, received a delegation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on the western Tigris front.
According to a statement from the presidency, they discussed the latest military developments of the Peshmerga on the western Tigris front, and emphasized on the unity of Kurdish forces.
“The PUK delegation highly appreciated the Peshmerga advances and Barzani’s role,” the statement said. The visitors also expressed their condolences for soldiers who have lost lives in the war.
“The current situation of the recent liberated areas and the fighting fronts were discussed," the presidential statement said.
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