In the battle for Mosul, there will be “formidable challenges at all levels, one of the most important of them coordination between military units taking part in the battle”, said Iraqi security analyst Jassim Hanoon.
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On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced the launch of a military operation aimed at recapturing Al-Shirqat, the terrorist group’s last remaining stronghold in Saladin.
USA and Iraqi officials are also concerned there has not been enough planning for how to manage Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and a mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, if and when Islamic State is kicked out.
The shell landed in Qayara West, an air base that was seized from the Islamic State recently and is serving as a staging area for the upcoming offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from the militants, the officials said. US officials said Wednesday that an oily substance found on a fragment of the rocket initially tested positive for mustard agent, but that a second test was negative.
“It’s been more than 24 hours and we haven’t seen anyone who has any indication of blistering or anything like that”, the official said.
Images of the Iraqi flag being reinstated above government buildings were released by the Defence Ministry, and video of celebrating citizens and soldiers was broadcast on state TV and released by the media wing of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMU), an umbrella group of anti-Isis militia units.
Iraqi forces must retake Shirqat in order to secure its supply lines south of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.
The head of the Salahuddin provincial council, Ahmed al-Karim, said that government forces control up 70 per cent of the town.
Dorrian did not have specific figures, the AP reports. The group also controls the city of Tel Afar, west of Mosul towards the Syrian border.
Local officials in Nineveh province informed Iraqi News on Thursday, that ISIS is importing expired foodstuffs and selling them to the people of Mosul, while noted to the existence of cases of poisoning among citizens. It pledged to recapture the city this year.
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Also on Thursday, Britain said £40 million (Dh192.5m) in humanitarian aid to Iraq, anticipating a wave of displaced people as government forces prepare to recapture Mosul.
