Iraq’s military is claiming the Islamic State has suffered “heavy losses of life and equipment” just outside of Mosul as coalition forces lead a campaign to retake the city from the terrorist organization, reported CNN Monday.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the long-awaited offensive to take back the largest city under Islamic State control was beginning early Monday. In a televised statement, the Iraqi prime minister said the “victory bell has rung” to free the citizens of one of Iraq’s largest cities from the “brutality and terrorism of ISIS.”
“God willing, we will meet soon on the ground of Mosul where we all celebrate the liberation and your freedom,” he said. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has described retaking the Islamic State’s last stronghold in the country as “a decisive moment in the campaign” to eliminate the group. U.S. officials estimate about 5,000 Islamic State militants are in Mosul, a figure the terrorist group’s backers say is at least 2,000 short of the actual number.
The Iraqi prime minister tweeted an encouraging statement to the people of the embattled city.
The hour has struck. The campaign to liberate Mosul has begun. Beloved people of Mosul, the Iraqi nation will celebrate victory as one
— Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) October 17, 2016
Iraq and its allies have been preparing for the operation for about a year and CNN reports that as many as 100,000 troops might be involved. According to al-Abadi, only Iraqi and Kurdish military will go into Mosul. The U.S. military has provided air support and counsel for the action and has deployed 600 American troops in support of recapturing the city. This brings the number of U.S. personnel in Iraq to about 5,000 to join the approximately 3,600 coalition troops supporting the predominantly Kurdish and Iraqi forces.
The battle could last weeks or months and the remaining 1 million residents, half of Mosul’s population before the Islamic State took over the city, are likely to be driven out of the city as refugees. The U.N. has stated it is preparing for what could be the “one of the largest man-made displacement crises of recent times.”
“The humanitarian consequences of this operation will be massive,” said Norwegian Refugee Council’s Country Director in Iraq Wolfgang Gressmann. “Establishing genuinely safe routes out of the city for civilians is now the top priority; nothing is more important.”
