Kurdish Peshmerga to Play Helping Role in Mosul Liberation - Official
Kurdish Peshmerga to Play Helping Role in Mosul Liberation - Official
Middle East
(updated 18:42 13.04.2016)
The Kurdish Peshmerga forces will participate in liberating the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh as part of a broader coalition effort, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Minister Karim Sinjari said on Wednesday.
"We will participate in the operation in Mosul after the coordination with American coalition forces with the Iraqi government," Sinjari stated at a conference hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Sinjari clarified that Peshmerga forces "are not planning to go inside the city." Their role, he added, "is to be helping."
The US-led coalition against Daesh has been preparing an assault to retake Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq.
Coalition leaders have been reluctant to indicate a time-table for the city’s liberation. Over the past 18 months, the coalition has retaken a number of cities surrounding Mosul in an effort to choke off outside support to Daesh.