ERBIL // The battle for Mosul was launched on Monday after months of preparation as the various stakeholders engaged in expelling ISIL from its last Iraqi stronghold positioned themselves for the operation.
In the run up to the offensive, the Iraqi army had been deploying in key locations around the city.
Army units have entered Kurdish territory in the north and north-east and taken up positions along the peshmerga-held front line, some of which are no more than a dozen kilometres from Mosul.
In the south, across the Tigris, men and ammunition from the Iraqi Security Forces and US military have been pouring into Qayyarah airbase – a vital staging post for the assault up the river towards the city, about 40 kilometres away.
Units of the vaunted Golden Division – Iraq’s elite fighting outfit – left their base in Camp Speicher near Tikrit to move into their assault positions.
The military airport in the Kurdish capital Erbil has been a hive of activity, with the constant thud of helicopter rotor blades filling the night-time sky.
The forces closing in on Mosul enjoy overwhelming numerical superiority, and deadly air support by the 60-nation coalition led by the US.
ISIL fighters are vastly outnumbered, with an estimated 3,000 to 4,500 thought to be in the city and surrounding area.
--------------------------------------------
The battle to retake Mosul - interactive
--------------------------------------------
Inside Mosul, the extremists have been digging in, reportedly rigging streets and buildings with explosives, building trenches and erecting barriers of reinforced concrete. More than a million civilians are still estimated to be in the city, and the United Nations has warned that they risk being used by the militants as human shields.
The task of retaking Mosul, which has been in ISIL’s hands since they stormed the city in June 2014, is complicated not only by the inherent difficulties of urban combat but also by the fanatical defence that the extremists are expected to mount.
A plethora of different armed groups, representing various political interests, are eyeing to take part in the battle.
The government in Baghdad wants to limit participation to the army, whose advance will be spearheaded by Golden Division fighters, with local police used in an auxiliary function.
The Kurdish peshmerga may also have a limited role in the offensive.
A small contingent of Sunni tribal militias are currently holding sections of the front line and could play a part in the battle.
The biggest threat to this order of battle are the powerful Shiite militias, the Hashed Al Shaabi, who have close ties to Iran. These militias have played an important part in halting and then reversing ISIL’s advance in Iraq, but their reputation is blighted by strong evidence of sectarian atrocities. They cite the presence of a contingent of Turkish troops near the ISIL-held town of Bashiqa north of Mosul as a reason to be involved.
Turkey has refused to comply with Baghdad’s demands that its soldiers withdraw from Iraq. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday indicated that Ankara would play a role in the battle for Mosul, and said it was unthinkable that Ankara would stay on the sidelines.
The Turks have been training a militia of several thousand men near Bashiqa, under the auspices of the former governor of Nineveh province, Atheel Al Nujaifi. Mr Al Nujaifi enjoys close ties with Turkey, and his force could be a way for Ankara to gain influence in post-ISIL Mosul. With Ankara and Baghdad at loggerheads, Turkey’s involvement in Mosul threatens to derail the entire operation.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
