Second phase to liberate Mosul had begun
29/12/2016 10:38:00
Nineveh Operations Command led by Major General Najim al-Jubouri confirmed that the second phase of Mosul operations had began on Thursday, 29 of Dec. to liberate the eastern side of ISIS last stronghold in Iraq .
Mr. al-Jubouri said in a statement to PUKmedia that at 9:00 AM, the Iraqi forces had begun the second phase to retake Mosul from the hands of ISIS by storming two neighborhoods
Al-Karama and al-Qudis neighborhoods were stormed today's morning by the Iraqi security forces It is highly expected that the two neighborhoods shall be liberated today , as the forces did not enter the center yet.
Since October, a coalition of Iraqi-led forces including the Iraqi army, counter-terrorism forces, federal police, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Hashd al-Shaabi forces have pushed to end ISIS' brutal rule in Mosul. The city remains the last major stronghold of ISIS after the terrorist group seized control in 2014.
Iraqi forces have accomplished its goals for the first phase of its Mosul military operations. The second phase of the operation is to continue liberating neighborhoods in the eastern and western sides of Mosul from ISIS, protect civilians and provide safe routes for the civilians who wish to leave.
z9The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Hashd al-Shaabi, is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003* .
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who previously pledged to retake Mosul by the end of the year, said this week it would take another three months to rout Islamic State in Iraq . https://www.pukmedia.com/EN/EN_Direje.aspx?Jimare=39333