Battle for Mosul nearly won, claim Iraqi forces

Baghdad, May 16 

Iraqi forces have dislodged Islamic State from all but 12 square km of Mosul, a military spokesman said on Tuesday, after planes dropped leaflets into the city telling civilians the battle was nearly won.

Seven months into the US-backed campaign, the militants now control only a few districts in Mosul, including the Old City, where IS is expected to make its last stand. Iraq  is pushing to declare victory by the holy month of Ramadan, expected to begin on May 27, even if pockets of resistance remain in the Old City.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces said the enemy was completely surrounded in the city and its fighters and resources were being destroyed. “The enemy is on the brink of total defeat in Mosul,” US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said in Baghdad.

With the help of advisers and air strikes by the coalition, Iraqi forces have made rapid gains since opening a new front in the northwest of Mosul earlier this month, closing in on the Old City. “We reassure everyone that ... in a very short time, God willing, we will declare the liberation and clearing of west Mosul and raise the Iraqi flag over ... the Old City,” said spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool. — Reuters