Iraqi PM: IS will be defeated in three months

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Prime Minister on Tuesday stated Iraqi security forces needed three months to defeat Islamic State (IS) extremists in the country.

In a press conference following a cabinet meeting, Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, said the country’s security forces were making advancements in Mosul.

Abadi added the army’s success did not require the “presence of a single foreign soldier alongside our forces.”

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

PM Abadi said “IS would be defeated in Iraq within the next three months,” stating US commanders are often pessimistic about the battle against the extremists.

On Monday, top US commander Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend predicted it would take two years for the defeat of IS extremists in its twin capitals of Raqqa and Mosul.

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

“2016 would be the year of the big and final victory when [IS’] presence in Iraq is terminated,” Abadi said in a speech broadcasted on state television in mid-October 2016.

Commander of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces Brigadier Abdulghani Asadi on Sunday discussed the second phase of the Mosul offensive.

“After the first stage of the Mosul operation is over, military preparations for the second phase to liberate the whole city are expected to start soon,” he told Kurdistan24.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany