MOSUL, Iraq—The military seized control of eastern Mosul from Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, a significant step toward retaking the entire city.
Fighting in Western Mosul, which remains under control of the terror group, will resume after a brief pause, Iraqi commanders said. Mr. Abadi indicated that the next phase of the more-than-three-month battle would begin shortly.
“Now I call upon these heroes to quickly move to liberate the rest of Mosul,” he said at a press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday, speaking of his military and allied forces.
Eastern Mosul is the largest territory Islamic State has lost since taking over nearly one-third of Iraq in 2014. Mosul, bisected by the Tigris River, is the group’s remaining major stronghold in Iraq and the country’s second-largest city.
The battle for Mosul has been the most complex fight against Islamic State in Iraq, involving some 80,000 government-allied troops backed by U.S.-led airstrikes. The vast majority of the battle has been executed by Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, a relatively small U.S.-trained force.
The fight has been characterized by halting advances in the crowded city of 1.2 million residents.
Read the whole story from The Wall Street Journal.
MOSUL, Iraq—The military seized control of eastern Mosul from Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, a significant step toward retaking the entire city.
Fighting in Western Mosul, which remains under control of the terror group, will resume after a brief pause, Iraqi commanders said. Mr. Abadi indicated that the next phase of the more-than-three-month battle would begin shortly.
“Now I call upon these heroes to quickly move to liberate the rest of Mosul,” he said at a press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday, speaking of his military and allied forces.
Eastern Mosul is the largest territory Islamic State has lost since taking over nearly one-third of Iraq in 2014. Mosul, bisected by the Tigris River, is the group’s remaining major stronghold in Iraq and the country’s second-largest city.
The battle for Mosul has been the most complex fight against Islamic State in Iraq, involving some 80,000 government-allied troops backed by U.S.-led airstrikes. The vast majority of the battle has been executed by Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, a relatively small U.S.-trained force.
The fight has been characterized by halting advances in the crowded city of 1.2 million residents.
Read the whole story from The Wall Street Journal.
Featured image courtesy of AFP.
COMMENTS
There are on this article.
You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.