Iraqi Forces Launch New Advance Northeast of Mosul

He spoke positively about air support his forces were receiving from the coalition but said more military assistance was needed, starting with armored vehicles and equipment to detect roadside bombs.

Iraqi army troops have stormed into a Christian region that has been under Islamic State control since 2014 as part of US-backed operations to clear the entrances to Mosul, the militants’ last major city stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says claims that Turkish troops have taken part in the operation are “baseless and untrue”, and again called on the Turkish troops to withdraw.

The Iraqi Federal Police, a military-style force, pushed into a small village in the Shura district south of Mosul, where they fired a large anti-aircraft gun and rocket-propelled grenades as they battled IS militants.

For the liberators of Bartella, this means waiting for the Islamic State group to be completely driven out of the region before bringing their families safely home. The service member was working with Iraqi special forces northeast of Mosul and serving as an explosive ordnance disposal specialist.

“I’ve seen berms in Qaraqosh. I anticipate there’ll be trenches, there’ll be passageways between different buildings”, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The top USA commander in Iraq, Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said his own information – while limited – “suggests that President Barzani is right, that there has been a considerable success at Bashiqa”.

A key concern is the presence in Mosul of up to 1.2 million civilians, who are trapped and unable to leave until forces move closer and safe corridors are opened.

The UN says that 5,000 people have been displaced so far by the recent fighting around Mosul. There are about 5,000 USA troops in Iraq but the US military has not disclosed the number of personnel at the airfield.

Almost 1,000 people south of the Iraqi city of Mosul have been treated for breathing problems after a sulfur plant caught fire earlier this week, Reuters reports.

US defense and military officials have said that while the offensive has started well, they expect the complex fight for the city to get more hard. Mosul is about five times bigger than any other city held by Islamic State.

A US-led coalition is backing the assault on Mosul with warplanes and military advisers.

Iraq’s prime minister on Saturday rejected the possibility of Turkish involvement in the current campaign to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State.

After meeting with Turkey’s president in Anakara on Friday, Carter said that he had “an agreement in principle” on Turkey’s role in the campaign. [If help is needed] we will ask for it from Turkey or from other regional countries, ” Abadi said.

A USA military officer said IS had set up a multilayered defense in and around Mosul.

Iraqi special forces began shelling IS positions before dawn near Bartella, a historically Christian town to the east of Mosul that they had retaken last week.

Within Mosul itself, aid agencies are anxious for the welfare of the city’s estimated 1.5million inhabitants, whom they say are at risk of being caught in crossfire and used as human shields by the 4,000 or so Isis fighters embedded in the city. Another 170 were wounded, and a sundown curfew has been imposed on the city. The region’s oil producing facilities were not damaged.

“We have 46 dead and 133 wounded, a lot of them members of the security services, as result of the clashes with Daesh (IS)”, an interior ministry brigadier general told AFP.

Some Kurdish combat forces had complained that they were not receiving the air support that they expected from the coalition, but a Kurdish official said Sunday that the situation had improved.

A French government official told AFP the breach into Mosul, which could mark the beginning of a phase of fierce street battles with IS, could still be a month away.

He said that most of the fallen peshmerga were riding in regular cars and were more vulnerable.