ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The war against ISIS in Mosul to retake the city from the radical group is nearing an end, says the US presidential envoy to the global coalition Brett McGurk, and that the militants will have to surrender or die. “I'm not going to put timelines on it, this has been a long and very difficult campaign but ISIS (the Islamic State group) is down to its last stronghold in the western part of the city and it's really just a matter of time.” McGurk told Associated Press, speaking at a water treatment plant south of Mosul. “Anyone left in there, they either have to surrender or they're going to die.” He said that the priority was now driving ISIS out of its capital city of Raqqa in Syria. For the planned operation against Raqqa the US recently decided to arm the Kurds in Syria, and for that, said McGurk, Washington is in discussions with Turkey that opposes the deal. He said: “We're in constant discussions with Turkey, in fact just a few days ago I was at Brussels to brief NATO and our Turkish allies were there,” “We've got (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan in Washington this coming week. So we're in constant discussion with Turkey but first and foremost we have to get ISIS out of Raqqa.” McGurk said that Raqqa was a place that still posed a threat and lessons had been learned in Iraq for the upcoming operations in Syria. “Raqqa is where they're planning and plotting attacks against us, and the lessons we've learnt here in Iraq are making sure that we return people to their homes and that local areas are returned to the local people who live there. That includes the Arabs of Raqqa, that is the plan.” he explained.
