Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Iraqi and Kurdish forces are finalising plans to attack the last urban stronghold ofIslamic State in Iraq, the northern city of Mosul, which after a month-long buildup is now largely surrounded by a 60,000-strong force.
The assault could begin as early as this weekend and is the most critical challenge yet to Isis’s two-year-old “caliphate”, which had shredded state authority in the region’s heartland, led to a mass exodus of refugees, attempted a genocide of minorities and led to grave doubts over Iraq’s viability.
Iraqi forces, which have driven hundreds of miles for what Baghdad has hailed as a last battle against the terror group, moved into their final positions on Friday, joining Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers ahead of an expected advance from the south. Also on the ground are US, British and French special forces, who have been advising Peshmerga troops. They will play a prominent role in calling in airstrikes against Isis targets inside the city.
Isis is thought to have around 6,000 fighters ready to defend Mosul, hidden among an estimated civilian population of 600,000, most of whom are expected to flee as the battle intensifies.
The new wave of refugees is likely to be far more difficult to manage than the war itself, with authorities and aid agencies desperately trying to finalise plans ahead of the attack. Save the Children, one of numerous NGOs near Mosul, said some refugees had died on an arduous trip to a holding camp south of the city.
Aram Shakaram, Save the Children’s deputy director in Iraq, said: “Children are arriving from Hawija on the verge of death. Food in the area is running out and they are hungry, thirsty and absolutely exhausted, having walked barefoot through mountains full of landmines and Isis patrols.
“Our team heard of a woman and her 17-year-old nephew who collapsed and died just a few kilometres away from help.”
