![Image of Iraqi civilians after having fled their homes as the operation to liberate Mosul from Daesh continues [Feriq Fereç/ Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161120_2_20239264_16214837-e1552908571566.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The British Foreign Office has welcomed the Iraqi forces’ progress in eastern Mosul as another step toward defeating Daesh, but urged Iraqi authorities to prioritise the protection of civilians at the heart of everything they do.
“There is still a long way to go. As Iraqi forces prepare for western Mosul, I pay tribute to their bravery and urge them to continue to put the protection of Mosul’s innocent civilians at the heart of everything they do,” the British Minister for Middle East and Africa, Tobias Elwood said in remarks yesterday.
Elwood renewed the United Kingdom’s commitment as a member of the US-led international coalition against Daesh to continuing to provide the government of Iraq with political, military, humanitarian and stabilisation support, “as they work to deliver the political reform, national reconciliation and basic services all Iraqis want and deserve,” according to the minister.
Iraqi President Fuad Masum on Tuesday congratulated the Iraqi people for what he described as “the heroic victory achieved by the armed forces and the full liberation of the eastern side of the city of Mosul from Daesh”, and hoped that the Western part would be recaptured soon.
Iraqi forces began US and Iran-backed operations to retake Mosul on 17 October, with the participation of more than 100,000 security personnel including Shia paramilitary jihadists and Kurdish Peshmerga units.