Iraqi forces in Mosul reinforced, new push against IS soon
MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi forces stalled for weeks on the edges of Mosul have been bolstered by reinforcements and are now ready, along with elite special forces, to launch a stepped up, three-pronged assault against Islamic State group militants in the city’s eastern sector, ending a two-week lull in fighting, a top Iraqi general told The Associated Press.
The planned assault aims in part to overcome stiff resistance by the militants that has slowed advances in the more than 2-month-old offensive to recapture the northern city, the last main bastion of the Islamic State group in Iraq.
In an attempt to isolate militants in the eastern sector from those in the western half of Mosul, warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition destroyed the last remaining bridge over the Tigris River, which runs through city centre.
So far in the Mosul offensive, Iraq’s counterterrorism forces, which are by far the military’s most battle seasoned unit, have done most of the fighting, pushing in from the east. But regular army troops on the city’s southeast and northern edges, as well as federal police farther west, have not moved in weeks, unable to penetrate the city either because they are not equipped or trained to fight on the streets or because of inadequate resources.