With the clock ticking down on what Iraq expects to be its biggest anti-IS operation yet, the United Nations warned of population displacement on a scale not seen in years.
Advertisement
Brig Gen Firas Bashar said Tuesday’s operation “started at dawn with the participation of Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and army forces”.
Just last week, ISIS was hit hard in the very same province of Nineveh, when US -led coalition forces struck a convoy of ISIS tankers, dealing yet another blow on the terrorist group’s oil infrastructure.
General Najim al-Jobouri, the commander of Iraq’s operations in the Nineveh province, told CNN that it seems ISIS has weakened.
“Mosul will be liberated in 2016”.
With the help of U.S. airstrikes and assistance from other powers, including Iran, a conglomeration of Iraqi government forces and militias have since reclaimed the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from the Islamic State, leaving Mosul as the militant group’s last major redoubt in the country.
Mr Numan said they were working in co-ordination with armed residents inside.
Backed by USA -led airstrikes, Iraqi forces have managed to retake most of the territory seized by Daesh since 2014.
The US-led coalition said in its daily strike report that its aircraft had carried out four raids on a large number of targets in Qayyarah on Monday.
Its fall would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq, according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
He says the UNHCR is looking to set up camps in up to six locations across northern Iraq.
Iraq already is confronted with one of the biggest internal displacement crises in the Middle East.
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, has been under IS rule since June 2014.
“Progress depends on both the availability of land and funding”, Edwards said, pointing out that UNHCR’s overall appeal for $584 million for the displaced Iraqis – including those who have fled to nearby countries – was only 38% funded. Edwards also said that “other shelter options are being prepared”. Most of the ISIS fighters were foreign nationals before, and now the militants are a mix of foreigners and locals, al-Jobouri noted.
Last month Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes retook the Qayara airfield, a transport hub that could prove crucial for an advance on Mosul.
Advertisement
The Iraqi authorities and the aid community, including the United Nations, came under criticism for failing to cope with the much smaller influx of displaced people triggered by the successful operation to retake the city of Fallujah in June.
