Iraqi commander vows to complete capture of Mosul in May

A top Iraqi commander expects to dislodge Daesh from Mosul in May despite resistance from militants in the densely populated Old City district.

The battle should be completed “in a maximum of three weeks”, the Iraqi army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, was quoted as saying by state-run newspaper al-Sabah on Sunday.

A US-led international coalition is providing air and ground support for the offensive in Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq, which fell to hardline Sunni Muslim fighters in June 2014.

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Daesh has lost most of the city’s districts since the offensive began in October and is now surrounded in the north-western districts, including the historic Old City centre.

The United Nation believes that up to half a million people remain in the area still controlled by the militants in Mosul, 400,000 of which are in the Old City with little food and water supply and no access to hospitals.

The militants have dug in between the civilians, often launching deadly counter-attacks to repel forces closing in on the Old City’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque.

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It was from this mosque, famous for its leaning minaret, that the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had declared a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria. Mosul was by far the largest city to have fallen under his control in both countries.

The total number of fighters aligned against Daesh in Mosul from all forces and units exceeds 100,000.

Iraqi forces estimate the number of Daesh fighters who remain in Mosul at 200 to 300, mostly foreigners, down from nearly 6,000 when the offensive started.

Several thousand have been killed so far in the battle, both civilians and military, according to international aid organisations. The total number of people displaced from Mosul since October is close to 400,000, about a fifth of Mosul’s population before its capture by Islamic State.