Barzani meets US, Iraqi officials regarding Mosul offensive

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani met on Saturday with US and Iraqi officials to discuss the upcoming Mosul operation, a source from the Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP) told Kurdistan24.

President Barzani hosted a meeting in Erbil with the US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, the US Presidential Special Envoy Brett McGurk, and the Iraqi National Security Adviser Falih Fayaz.

During the meeting, the group discussed the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and the anticipated Mosul offensive to free the area from jihadists.

President Barzani emphasized that there should be a clear and detailed agreement regarding the post-IS Nineveh Province.

The President said a clear plan would ensure that the injustice against ethnic and religious groups in the province would not be repeated.

Moreover, President Barzani stated that the crimes against the people of Nineveh, especially Kurdish Yezidi (Ezidi) and Christian people cannot be ignored.

Additionally, McGurk noted that besides the military operation in Mosul, there should be a focus on the humanitarian and political side of the offensive.

Mosul is the second-largest city in Iraq and has been under the control of IS since June 2014.

Following the group’s emergence, they occupied large swaths of territory in the north of Iraq including Nineveh, Diyala, Salahaddin, and Anbar provinces.

The occupation led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people who mostly fled to the Kurdistan Region.

The Region is currently home to 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) that escaped from other parts of Iraq from the threat of IS insurgents.

After the liberation of Fallujah city, Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga are preparing to launch a military operation on Mosul, the capital of the so-called IS caliphate.

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC), over 500,000 more IDPs are expected to flee from Mosul as the operation begins.

Although the exact time of the Mosul offensive has not been determined yet, Iraqi officials had previously emphasized that 2016 will be the end of IS in the country.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany