Iraq’s Kurdish, Shiite Fighters to Coordinate after Sealing off Mosul
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraqi Kurdish and Shiite forces agreed to coordinate movements after cutting off Mosul from the rest of the territory held by Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists in western Iraq and Syria, Iraqi officials said on Thursday.
The agreement was reached at meeting on Wednesday between commanders of Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmarga forces deployed in Sinjar, west of Mosul, and Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of Badr Organization, Reuters reported.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Unit, or Hashid Shaabi, deployed southwest of Mosul to complete the encirclement of Daesh’s last major city stronghold in Iraq.
Mosul was already ringed to the north, south and east by Iraqi government forces and the Peshmarga. Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service unit breached ISIL defenses in east Mosul at the end of October and is fighting to expand its foothold there.
The Iraqi army, the voluntary forces and Kurdish fighters launched the large-scale offensive to retake Mosul on October 17.
Iraqi troops have reportedly liberated more than 100 towns, killed 1,700 terrorists and destroyed 650 of their vehicles since they began the decisive battle.
The recapture of Mosul would mark the Takfiri militants’ effective defeat in the Iraqi half of the territory they seized in 2014.
