PHOTO: An Iraqi soldier stands next to a detained man accused of being an ISIS fighter in Qayyara, south of Mosul, October 30, 2016 (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
Advance units of the Iraqi armed forces are now on the outskirts of Mosul as they seek to recapture Iraq’s second city from the Islamic State.
A commander said troops of the Iraqi Army’s Counter-Terrorism Service advanced in Gogjali, an industrial zone on the eastern outskirts, about 7 km (4 miles) from the center of Mosul.
Another commander, Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, told State television his forces had reached the edge of the Karama district inside the city, with clashes reportedly underway.
The Iraqi-Kurdish offensive began more than two weeks ago. Kurdish peshmerga said on Monday that they were 5 km (3 miles) to the north and east of Mosul. To the south, The Iraqi army and Federal Police have been held up about 30 km (19 miles) from the city.
Shia militias, known as Popular Mobilization Units, joined the fight last weekend with their first operations near Tal Afar, about 55 km (34 miles) west of Mosul.
PM al-Abadi: “They Either Die of Surrender”
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking at the Qayyara military airbase 50 km (31 miles) south of Mosul, said the Iraqi forces were trying to close off all escape routes for ISIS fighters:
God willing, we will chop off the snake’s head. They have no escape, they either die or surrender.
British Major General Rupert Jones, the deputy commander for strategy and support of the U.S.-led coalition, said, “They are making deliberate progress, they’re on their timeline.”
