Will lessons learned in Ramadi help retake Mosul from ISIS forces?
The Iraqi military announced Thursday it was launching an offensive to retake Mosul, one of the republic’s largest cities, from Islamic State (IS) militants who have occupied it since 2014. Iraqi forces have been building up for weeks in the town of Makhmur, about 60 miles southeast of Mosul, joined by Kurdish peshmerga and US […]Ben Thompson writes for Christian Science Monitor:
The Iraqi military announced Thursday it was launching an offensive to retake Mosul, one of the republic’s largest cities, from Islamic State (IS) militants who have occupied it since 2014.
Iraqi forces have been building up for weeks in the town of Makhmur, about 60 miles southeast of Mosul, joined by Kurdish peshmerga and US troops. The peshmerga, from the Iraqi Kurdistan region that makes up much of northern Iraq, have been moving in on Mosul and have already cut off the city on three sides, according to Reuters.
The Kurds and US forces have been readying for the offensive for weeks. US officials announced it was beginning cyber attacks against IS installations earlier this month, and at a US Department of Defense briefing in late February, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford said that “operations against Mosul have already started.”
The US has also provided training to the forces aligned against IS in the region, and will back them with air support during the operation.
