Battle for Mosul: More than 60,000 Iraqi troops preparing

Sputnik
Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:05 UTC

Iraqi media reports that at least 65,000 Iraqi soldiers in six divisions are preparing for the battle to retake the city of Mosul from the Daesh forces that have made it their headquarters in Iraq for the past two years.

Some 10,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are also expected to join the battles that will bleed north and east of the city of over a million, Iraqi News reported, plus around 24,000 provincial police and members of the country's National Mobilization Forces - militia groups - as support.

The battle will be directed from Camp Swift, an American base near the Qayyarah airfield outside the city, CBS reported. There are estimated to be 6,000 US troops in the country, conducting air strikes alongside the Iraqi Air Force, and providing training, logistical, and maintenance support during the upcoming battle.

The fight to retake the city from the estimated 3,000-5,000 ISIS fighters still holding it is expected to start in weeks or days. In the runup to the battle, it is reported that the city is being ringed with bombs, with bridges booby-trapped and suicide bombers prepared to deploy. Multiple sources say Kurdish forces expect Daesh to use chemical weapons.

Comment: Boots on the ground: Are UK special forces preparing for chemical warfare ahead of assault on Mosul, Iraq?

A Pentagon spokesman said last month that some 800,000 people were expected to be displaced by the battle. Iraqi News reported that only 76,000 of the 300,000 tents expected to be in place for Mosul families fleeing the battle have so far been set up.

Comment: More analysis on the situation: Turkey-Iraq tensions on the rise as battle for Mosul inches closer. See also: Russian govt source: US & Saudi Arabia planning to shuttle 9,000 ISIS fighters from Iraqi Mosul to Syria... ahead of 'Mosul operation to get ISIS'.

Update (Oct. 14): Turkish president Erdogan says that if Turkey is somehow barred from taking part in the operation, "a Plan B or Plan C will be implemented." He didn't expand on that, naturally. Diplomatic sources and local media (Turkey's Anadolu) say the offensive is expected to begin within the next several days. Iraqi planes have entered Mosul's airspace in preparation, and the U.S. coalition says it is increasing air strikes on the city ahead of the offensive. Don't expect any comparisons with eastern Aleppo to be made in the Western media, because when America bombs a terrorist-held city to oblivion, that's perfectly okay.