Iraqi forces retake 44 percent of Nineveh Province: Spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – According to an Iraqi forces spokesperson on Sunday, 44 percent of Nineveh Province had been retaken from the Islamic State (IS) as the Iraqi army continued its advance.

In a statement, Yahiya Rasool, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, revealed the Iraqi forces were pushing forward to liberate Mosul, and specifically the Nineveh city center.

“After the first phase of the Mosul operation is over, we are now preparing our military plans to begin the second phase to liberate the whole city of Mosul which is expected to start soon,” commander of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces Brigadier Abdulghani Asadi told Kurdistan24.

The suspension of the Iraqi security forces’ advance in western Mosul and IS attacks against them inside the city encouraged Iraqi officials and army commanders to review another strategy for defeating the insurgents.

Moreover, as preparations are underway to begin the second stage of the Mosul operation, the US troops also prepare to expand their role in the military offensive.

In efforts to accelerate the two-month-old operation in Mosul, the US soldiers will assist the Iraqi army in the next phase, said a senior US commander.

Currently, there are over 5,000 US service members in Iraq who are advising the security forces in the battle against IS.

Bret Sylvia, a US Army Colonel, told Reuters his team was “deepening [their] integration with the Iraqi army.”

“We have always had opportunities to work side-by-side, but we have never been embedded to this degree,” Sylvia added.

On Oct. 17, Iraqi and Peshmerga forces with the support of the US-led coalition warplanes launched the military operation to retake Mosul from IS.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, since the beginning of the operation, 40 neighborhoods on the left coast of Mosul had been freed.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany