PHOTO: Kurdish peshmerga outside Badana village near Mosul on Monday (Bryan Denton/New York Times)


The offensive to reclaim Iraq’s second city Mosul from the Islamic State has claimed gains on its initial day.

Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani claimed that Iraqi forces and Kurdish peshmerga “liberated” 200 square km (72 square miles): “Today is a turning point in the war against terrorism. This is the first time that peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army have cooperated and fought in the same area.”

He said the advance was from the south and east of the city: “We are hopeful that this operation will be successful and that Mosul will be liberated. But this does not mean that the terrorist threat is over.”

Other sources claimed nine villages had been captured.

Shia militia are also involved in the offensive, which surrounded the city on three sides — on fronts about 10 miles away — and began artillery attacks and US-led airstrikes on Sunday.

Livestream from the Iraqi Kurdish outlet Rudaw of the offensive:

The advance on the ground began early Monday, supported by tank fire. The Islamic State tried to counter with suicide vehicle bombings — one report claimed at least five against the three columns of Kurdish peshmerga east of Mosul — and with oil fires, causing a dense haze to deter the airstrikes. To deter further suicide bombs, bulldozers built up sand berms in newly-taken positions.

Colonel Salar Jabar said five peshmerga were killed and five wounded. on the first day: “There was some resistance.”

Meanwhile, aid workers warned of the impending crisis of Mosul’s civilian population — estimated in reports this week at anywhere from 600,000 to 1.5 million — trying to flee.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said, “Basically, we have little less than a week.”

The UN has said that a million civilians could be affected, but Grande said that stockpiles of supplies, including tents and shelters, cover only 400,000 possible displaced.

Grande said the military has drawn up secret escape routes that will be conveyed to residents inside Mosul as the battle progresses.