2T IS fighters dead, gravely wounded in Mosul: US

QAYARA AIR BASE, Iraq— Iraqi and US-led coalition forces have killed or gravely wounded more than 2,000 Islamic State fighters in the battle for Mosul since October, the top US commander in Iraq said on Sunday.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters there are still an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters defending Mosul.

He applauded the efforts of Iraqi security forces, who began their offensive on Oct. 17 in what has been billed a decisive phase of the anti-IS fight.

“By our calculations, we think we have killed or badly wounded over 2,000,” Townsend said at a joint news conference with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter at Qayara air base.

Iraqi security forces have been slowed in their nearly two-monthold offensive against IS, which has occupied Mosul for more than two years.

US officials have declined to say how many Iraqi government troops have been killed in the Mo- sul fight.

Recapturing the city, Iraq’s second-largest, is crucial to the Iraqis’ hopes of restoring their sovereignty, although political stability will likely remain a challenge afterward.

Iraqi forces have only won back a handful of eastern Mosul neighborhoods since launching the offensive in mid-October.

On Sunday they came under mortar fire as they worked to clear villages along the Tigris River to the south, part of operations to secure supply lines for a campaign that is likely to stretch into the coming year.

Townsend disputed any suggestion that the Islamic State has managed to fight the Iraqi government forces to standstill in Mosul.

After citing the estimated 2,000 IS casualties, he added, “I don’t think that suggests anything about a stalemate. This is a major urban area. Any army on the planet, including the United States Army, would be challenged by this fight.”