Iraqi army gains control of Nineveh Plains, turns focus to Mosul
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Vast areas of the Nineveh Plains have been cleared of ISIS and the army will now direct its full focus on Mosul city, said a spokesperson of the Iraqi Special Operation Forces.
In an interview with Rudaw TV Monday night, General Yahya Rasoul refrained from setting an approximate date as to when the army could be expected to regain charge of Mosul, where street clashes over the past month have turned the city into a war zone with no foreseeable end in sight.
"Our forces have pushed back Daesh from almost the entire eastern corner of the city and I would say they will soon be in full control of that area and then advance from there," General Rasoul said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The Iraqi army announced on Monday it had recaptured the Nineveh Plains, a vast and relatively unpopulated area north and east of Mosul city where the militants appear to have put up little resistance. The army also said half of Nineveh province – where Mosul is the provincial capital – was now under the command of Iraqi forces, including areas liberated by Peshmerga troops and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.
Military officials have said ISIS fighters have lost "momentum" in Mosul following the army's incursion into the eastern outskirts of the city. But more than a month after the first army units entered Mosul, the prospect of full liberation of the Sunni city remains distant.
Kurdish and Iraqi intelligence services estimate that between 5,000 and 8,000 militants, including many foreign fighters, are still in central parts of the city where the majority of the residents also live.
The densely populated neighborhoods in a city with an estimated one million residents has proved to be a difficult target for both the coalition airpower and the army's artillery, as they fear civilian casualties which could trigger religious tensions between Sunni residents and the mainly Shiite army, a scenario that is likely to strengthen ISIS in Mosul.
Coalition airstrikes conducted 9 missions on Monday alone, according to an official statement, targeting ISIS facilities and tunnels in areas close to the townships of Bashir, Beiji, Raw, Tal Afar and Mosul. But no target was hit inside ISIS-held neighborhoods of Mosul, an indication that the Iraqi army will likely be engaged in street clashes longer than it expected, before the city is cleared of the Islamic zealots.
In an interview with Rudaw TV Monday night, General Yahya Rasoul refrained from setting an approximate date as to when the army could be expected to regain charge of Mosul, where street clashes over the past month have turned the city into a war zone with no foreseeable end in sight.
"Our forces have pushed back Daesh from almost the entire eastern corner of the city and I would say they will soon be in full control of that area and then advance from there," General Rasoul said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The Iraqi army announced on Monday it had recaptured the Nineveh Plains, a vast and relatively unpopulated area north and east of Mosul city where the militants appear to have put up little resistance. The army also said half of Nineveh province – where Mosul is the provincial capital – was now under the command of Iraqi forces, including areas liberated by Peshmerga troops and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.
Military officials have said ISIS fighters have lost "momentum" in Mosul following the army's incursion into the eastern outskirts of the city. But more than a month after the first army units entered Mosul, the prospect of full liberation of the Sunni city remains distant.
Kurdish and Iraqi intelligence services estimate that between 5,000 and 8,000 militants, including many foreign fighters, are still in central parts of the city where the majority of the residents also live.
The densely populated neighborhoods in a city with an estimated one million residents has proved to be a difficult target for both the coalition airpower and the army's artillery, as they fear civilian casualties which could trigger religious tensions between Sunni residents and the mainly Shiite army, a scenario that is likely to strengthen ISIS in Mosul.
Coalition airstrikes conducted 9 missions on Monday alone, according to an official statement, targeting ISIS facilities and tunnels in areas close to the townships of Bashir, Beiji, Raw, Tal Afar and Mosul. But no target was hit inside ISIS-held neighborhoods of Mosul, an indication that the Iraqi army will likely be engaged in street clashes longer than it expected, before the city is cleared of the Islamic zealots.