The goal is to cut off the main road from Mosul into Syria.
ISIS captured Mosul using this desert route on the Syrian border.
ISIS has used car bombs and left mines in the villages.
US soldiers are only 1 km away from Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries.
Iraqi military commanders say the US forces’ main role is to provide intelligence and coordinate between Iraqi forces on the ground and coalition warplanes.
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