Iraqi Army Launches Op to Restore Nineveh

Local Editor

Iraq's armed forces started an offensive against Daesh [the Arabic acronym for "ISIS" terrorist group] Thursday in the region around Mosul, pushing the terrorists out of several villages, according to a military statement read on state TV.

The offensive is the first phase of an operation that the Iraqi government aims to conclude this year with the capture of Mosul, the largest city in the north of the country.

"The first phase of the Fatah [Conquest] Operation has been launched at dawn to liberate Nineveh, raising the Iraqi flag in several villages," said the military statement.

Mosul, home to around 2 million people before it fell to Daesh during a lightning offensive in 2014, is by far the biggest city ruled by the terrorist group in either Iraq or Syria.

An Iraqi offensive to recapture it, backed by airstrikes and advisers from a US-led coalition, would be the biggest counterattack ever mounted against the group.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command, told state TV that both Iraqi and coalition air forces had had a significant role in the offensive.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team