By Kasim Ileri
WASHINGTON
U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces plan to launch an operation in Mosul as early as April to retake the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, a U.S. official said Thursday.
U.S. troops have been engaged in a months-long operation to train Iraqi forces to help destroy the militant group. A battle in Mosul seems to be a test for Iraqi forces.
In order to retake the stronghold of the terror group, approximately 20,000-22,000 troops or 12 brigades will participate in the operation, a Central Command official said.
It would be the biggest battle since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, which began last August with U.S. and coalition airstrikes on the group’s targets, after ISIL swept into Iraq from neighboring Syria.
"As the attack force there will be five brigades, and there will be three smaller brigades that will be comprised as reserve force and then there will be three Pesh (Kurdish) brigades, that will help contain from the North and isolate from the West," the official told a press briefing, requesting anonymity.
He also said Mosul police and tribes will also constitute a brigade and another brigade equivalent to a combined task force will also participate the operation.
ISIL upsurge in Iraq began in Mosul last June and the militant group seized wide swaths of territory in an effort to establish a "caliphate" across the Iraqi-Syria border.
According to the CENTCOM official, 3,200 Iraqi troops are currently being trained while 2,000 have graduated and returned to their positions.
Operation Inherent Resolve has been effective in preventing ISIL from establishing a safe haven in the region and the militants’ numbers are on the decline, the official claimed.
ISIL's fingerprints have been recently seen in Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Lebanon and its presence in those locations may lead to a perception that the group’s expansion continues.
But he said groups operating in those places were already there.
"It is our assessment that three quarters of its combat power, including people, equipment, infrastructure, and financial sources, has been taken off the battlefield and no longer available to it," he added.
Touching upon the coalition efforts in Syria and agreement between the U.S. and Turkey on a train-equip program for moderate Syrian opposition fighters, he said, "Turkey has been a tremendous partner in anti-ISIL efforts in Syria."
"All the things that we identified that were shortfalls, they have aggressively, even before this technical agreement was signed of their own accord, gone in and repaired or done the necessary improvements to get that site ready and to ensure that it's ready to receive the trainees once they come," he said.
In terms of participation, he added that Turkey demanded a one-to-one ratio, and the number of U.S. trainers will be equal to that of Turkish trainers.
