Iraqi army starts assault on Mosul

Iraqi army starts assault on Mosul as ISIS fiends DROWN 50 ‘plotters’ for helping them – The Sun

THE BATTLE to liberate Mosul – Islamic State’s last stronghold in Iraq – has begun. The offensive to take back Mosul from ISIS has begun with the Iraqi Prime Minister announcing a “clean” Iraq. The invasion of the city of two million was announced in a televised address by the country’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi [view article]

Battle for Mosul: Isis stronghold under attack from Iraqi and Kurdish forces – The Guardian

Smoke is rising over Mosul from the artillery and mortar fire and airstrikes from the US-led coalition backing Iraqi and irregular forces’ assault in the city. As these pictures show, the battle is now intensifying for control of the city. [view article]

Battle for Mosul: Operation to retake Iraqi city from IS begins – BBC News

An Iraqi operation to recapture the city of Mosul, the last major stronghold of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the country, has started. Artillery began firing on the city early on Monday, in a long-awaited assault from Kurdish Peshmerga, Iraqi government and allied forces. Tanks are now moving towards the city, which has been held by IS since 2014. [view article]

Isis ‘ready and waiting’ for Mosul offensive with booby traps, suicide bomber squadrons and network of spies – The Independent

Isis is digging in for a battle that could last months to keep control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, by extensively rigging the streets with bombs, preparing scores of suicide bombers, and filling trenches around key access points with burning oil.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on state TV in the early hours of Monday that the long-awaited operation had begun. Several sources said residents have started an armed resistance themselves, setting fire to Isis vehicles and stealing weapons, although intiial reports could not be verified. [view article]

The whole world is coming here to fight – The Daily Mail

Thousands of troops are massing outside Isis-held Mosul in preparation for a battle that could spell the end of the terror group in Iraq. The fight to reclaim the city is expected to begin next week in what will be the biggest Iraqi military operation since the US-led invasion in 2003.  A successful conquest would destroy ISIS’s last bastion of power in the country, and represent a serious blow to its legitimacy. [view article]