ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Counter-Terror Service (ICTS) have published an announcement, giving the people of west Mosul advice as Iraqi forces advance on the city and offering a deal for local ISIS fighters. The six-point announcement reads as follows: An announcement from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force to the people of west of Mosul. 1. Shut your doors and do not allow ISIS militants to take shelter in your houses. 2. If you have weapons, take them up and fight the group's militants. They are weaker than you think. 3. ISIS militants, it is better to surrender than be killed. 4. If any local ISIS member kills a foreign one, he would receive special care from the judiciary. 5. Cooperation between residents of western Mosul with Iraqi armed forces will facilitate and speed up the operation to liberate the area from ISIS. And your suffering under ISIS will come to an end, just like the people of the left coast of Mosul 6. Please reach out to us via our official page on Facebook with the information you have to locate ISIS militants' whereabouts, their weapons, hideouts, headquarters, and drones. We will take into account every single piece of information we receive confidentially. Iraqi forces launched the offensive to oust ISIS from the western half of the city on February 19. On Thursday morning, they began a major offensive to retake Mosul airport and Ghazlani base on the southern edge of the city. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the eastern half of Mosul liberated on January 24.
