The United States has also observed repeated Islamic State attacks over the past year or so against Iraqi troops, Kurdish forces and Syrian soldiers, a second USA official said.
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The US military has deployed hundreds of troops at Q-West to support Iraqi operations in the area.
Fallujah: Anbar province’s second city fell in 2014 and became a key ISIL stronghold close to the capital. It was not clear whether he was referring to Iraqi or Kurdish forces.
Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the military’s joint operations command, said in a statement broadcast on state television that the district had been liberated from “the desecration of terrorism”.
The battle to capture Mosul has been held off for months, though Iraqi security forces – aided by the USA -led anti-Islamic State coalition – have recaptured surrounding areas and targeted IS positions.
Shirqat town lies on the river Tigris, 100 km (62 miles) south of Mosul, and had been surrounded by Iraqi troops and Shia Muslim militias allied to the government but so far the militias have not participated in the operation. The “final assault” on Mosul will begin when Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi gives the order, Carter said.
Earlier this month, a USA general said American warplanes had eliminated a “significant chemical threat” to Iraqi civilians by bombing a complex of buildings near Mosul that Islamic State militants had converted from pharmaceutical manufacturing to chemical weapons production.
The top US military officer told Congress on Thursday that he believes Russian Federation bombed a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria earlier this week, killing 20 civilians in an “unacceptable atrocity”, as the bitter feud between.
McGurk said Washington was working to make sure that many security forces used in Mosul would be those trained by the coalition and that the roles of different forces would be agreed upon ahead of the operation, which could begin as soon as October.
Iraqi authorities hope the course of the battle will allow most residents to shelter in place to avoid creating a humanitarian crisis as forces move towards Mosul, where more than a million people are still living.
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“Humanitarian agencies are racing against the clock to prepare for the humanitarian impact of the military campaign”, the United Nations said.
