By Loveday Morris and Mustafa Salim
October 16 at 9:49 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-forces-ready-for-zero-hour-in-assault-on-mosul/2016/10/16/e899f83c-9246-11e6-bc00-1a9756d4111b_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_bKHAZIR, IRAQ — Iraq announced the beginning of its offensive for the northern city of Mosul on Monday, embarking on the country’s biggest fight against Islamic State militants so far.
In an early-morning televised address, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged to raise the Iraqi flag over the city once more, calling on residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.
The operation aims to push the militant group out of its de facto capital in Iraq, the most populous city it controls. More than 1 million civilians are thought to be trapped in the city.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops from an array of the country’s forces have been drawn together to achieve that feat: Kurdish peshmerga soldiers, Sunni tribal fighters, army troops, police officers, Shiite militias and elite counterterrorism units. From the sky and on the ground comes close support from the U.S.-led coalition.
Despite sometimes competing agendas, they have united — at least for now — to take back the Islamic State’s most prized remaining territory in the country.
(more at link)
