Iraqi troops, backed by local police and Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, took up positions along five axes on Tuesday and advanced through five villages but by midday were still around 13 km from the town center, said the mayor and a source in the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees military operations in the area.
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U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that the battle against the Islamic State militant group in Mosul would be challenging but he was confident it would move forward rapidly. He’s calling the group a “huge threat” and a “dangerous terrorist organization”.
“This is going to be a challenging battle”. Still, Obama said he and Abadi were confident that Iraq’s military and the USA -led coalition could make progress in Mosul “fairly rapidly”, adding that he was hoping for progress by year-end.
“These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and, God willing, its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, . the liberation of all Iraqi lands and the end of Daesh”, he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when ISIL captured Mosul – the country’s second largest city – along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions. He added: “They must be crushed on the ground”.
Obama ran for the presidency in 2008 largely on the back of a promise to pull US troops out of Iraq, but he has been forced to stay engaged on a military and diplomatic level in Iraq thanks to the rise of the Islamic State. A human rights advocate said the arrest of Afghan-born US citizen Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the bombings should not fuel the misconception that accepting more refugees will lead to more terrorist acts.
Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shiite militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push.
Obama said he and Abadi had focused on ensuring that food, water and shelter are available for those displaced and that Mosul can be quickly rebuilt, so that desperate residents don’t turn to “extremist ideologies” for relief and allow the Islamic State group to return. The Obama administration considers Abadi to be a major improvement over the sectarian approach of his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, though Abadi has faced serious domestic political challenges in recent months.
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Obama’s meeting with the Iraqi leader marked the start of a hectic week of diplomacy as he makes his final appearance as president at the annual United Nations gathering. Obama also discussed climate change, the global refugee crisis and terrorism during a phone call with Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.
