Iraq deploying troops to retake Mosul

AFP reports :

The Iraqi army is deploying thousands of soldiers to a northern base in preparation for operations to retake the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s hub of Mosul, officials said on Monday. ISIS seized Mosul in June 2014 and except for air strikes has held Iraq’s second city largely unopposed for over 18 months as the country’s security forces battled the militants in other areas.

“Units from the Iraqi army have begun arriving to a military base near the Makhmur district to start launching initial military operations toward Mosul,” a staff brigadier general told AFP on condition of anonymity.