On the first day of what could be a long campaign to liberate Mosul from the grip of the Islamic State, Iraqi forces are on track to achieve their military objectives, and the offensive is going according to plan, the Pentagon said Monday.
“We are in the first day of a difficult campaign that could take some time,” said Peter Cook, a Pentagon spokesman, adding, “Early indications are that Iraqi forces have met their objectives so far and that they are ahead of schedule for this first day.”
Cook said the U.S.-led coalition is in a support role, providing air cover as well as “operational guidance” from U.S. special operations forces on the ground, but Cook said U.S. troops are not on the front lines.
“Those American advisers remain behind the forward line of troops,” Cook told reporters, but said the U.S. forces were in a dangerous combat environment. “Americans in Iraq are in harm’s way right now. We don’t lose sight of that.”
Cook said while the U.S. has spotters who can call in airstrikes, they will be passing along targets identified by Iraq troops who are closer to the front lines.
The U.S. also has Apache ground attack helicopters at the ready, but Cook said so far they have not joined the battle.
The U.S. has about 5,000 troops in Iraq, including several hundred at a logistical support base at Qarrayah West Air base south of Mosul.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he would like to liberate the northern Iraqi city of 1 million by the end of the year, but the duration of the operation depends largely on the level of resistance mounted by the Islamic State.
Millions of leaflets have been airdropped over Mosul, with the Iraq government urging the citizens of Mosul to stay in their homes and ride out the fighting.
The Iraqi forces claim they have inflicted heavy casualties on the Islamic State, while the terrorist group’s news agency Amaq reported ISIS conducted a dozen suicide attacks against the attackers.
“This is a decisive moment in the counter-ISIL campaign. It is in Mosul that ISIL’s leader chose to announce its so-called caliphate,” Cook said. “But more than a symbol, Mosul is also a city of more than a million people. Over two years, ISIL has brutalized this city’s population, committing horrific atrocities. This is a fight to free hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis from ISIL’s rule.”
