Peshmerga forces advance on Iraq's Mosul

By Mohamed Akl, Ali Shikho, Jamal al-Badrani and Ali Mukarram Garip

NINEVEH/BAGHDAD

Peshmerga forces on Thursday captured several villages northeast of Mosul on the fourth day of a wide-ranging military campaign to "liberate" the city from the Daesh terrorist group, according to military sources.

"Our forces liberated 12 villages on three axes along which they are advancing on Mosul from the northeast," Younis Koran, a Peshmerga military officer, told Anadolu Agency.

Earlier this week, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a much-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul -- Daesh’s last stronghold in northern Iraq, which was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014.

Six of the villages captured Thursday are located along the Nawran axis, five along the Bashiqa axis and one along the Tel Saqf axis, Koran said.

"With the liberation of Khorsabad village on the Nawran axis, Peshmerga forces now stand 12 kilometers north of Mosul," said Koran.

According to a Peshmerga source who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, the advance is being supported by U.S.-led coalition air power.

Odai al-Hamdani, an Iraqi army officer, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that Iraqi counter-terrorism forces had arrived in the Al-Khazir area (located some 40 kilometers east of Mosul) before another planned advance on the Daesh-held city.

In a related development, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced that another seven villages to the south of Mosul had fallen to Iraqi security forces on Wednesday.

"Federal Police forces advancing from the south along the Qayyarah axis managed to retake the villages of Al-Bijwaniyah, Al-Bijwaniyah al-Thalitha, Al-Daraj, Al-Bikr al-Owla, Al-Bikr al-Thaniya, Al-Mankouba and Al-Raflah," the ministry said in a Thursday statement.

It went on to assert that Daesh militants had sustained "heavy losses" during the confrontations.

On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry announced that Iraqi forces had captured a total of 352 square kilometers of territory south of Mosul since the operation to retake the city formally began late Sunday evening.

After Daesh

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, for his part, has declared that Mosul -- following its recapture from Daesh -- would be "administrated by the city’s own people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds".

In a Thursday statement, Masum stressed the need to maintain national unity with a view to achieving the "final elimination" of Daesh and building a "stable and prosperous Iraq".

Mosul will be liberated "by Iraqis", he asserted, and will be run by Iraqis of "all races and creeds".

Daesh captured Mosul In mid-2014 before overrunning large swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led coalition, retake much territory.

Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country.