Retaking of Mosul from ISIS on the cards for Iraq-Kurdish forces

#ISIS #Mosul #US #Iraq #haideralabadi It has been revealed by US officials that plans have been drawn up to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS and, in order to carry this out, a joint Iraqi-Kurdish military force of up to 25,000 fighters is being readied as reported in bbc.com dated 20 February 2015.
This operation to recapture Mosul, which is at present held by a 1000 to 2000 strong force of ISIS, has been tentatively for April or May. The city of Mosul was home to over a million people before IS captured it in June 2014.
It is expected that all of the fighters in the Iraqi-Kurdish force would have undergone necessary training imparted by the US by the time the operation is launched. It is important to carry out the operation before the onset of summer in May because at that time the heat would be unbearable.
The unnamed US official has indicated that no decision had been made on whether a small group of US military advisers would be needed on the ground to direct air support. In the opinion of US officials, the IS forces are now in retreat and Washington is keen to show that its efforts to rebuild Iraqi military capacity are bearing fruit.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has already confirmed that his forces were "planning an offensive on Mosul". Moreover, military chiefs from more than 20 countries have already assembled in Saudi Arabia – they would be discussing on how best to strengthen the Iraqi army against IS.

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Another interesting blog - Ramblings