Iraqi Forces Targeting West Mosul

A hundred days into a major push to recapture Mosul from the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, the Iraqi Army has said it is gearing up for an offensive to take the city’s western half, even as troops are still battling the armed group to take full control of the eastern sector.

The Popular Mobilization Forces “is preparing an operation in the next two, three days, to back up the operation to retake the right bank” of the city, on the western side of the Tigris River, Mosuliya TV cited General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, commander of the anti-IS campaign, as saying on Tuesday, Aljazeera reported.

PMF is a coalition of armed groups, formed in 2014 to take part in the war on IS. The armed militia became officially part of the Iraqi armed forces last year.

Yarallah’s comments came as the UN and several aid groups warned on Tuesday that an estimated 750,000 civilians are still living under “sharply deteriorating” conditions in IS-held western Mosul.

“The prices of basic food and supplies are soaring. Water and electricity are intermittent in neighborhoods and many families without income are eating only once a day. Others are being forced to burn furniture to stay warm,” Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement.

The operation to recapture Mosul, the main IS stronghold in Iraq, was launched on October 17, backed by airstrikes and advisers from a US-led coalition against the armed group.