US: Iraq ready for next battle against Daesh

BAGHDAD: Senior US military leaders said Friday that Iraqi forces are largely set for their next major campaign against Daesh extremists after closing out the wrenching nine-month battle to retake the city of Mosul.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top US commander in Iraq, said he sees the Iraqi assault on the Daesh-held area of Tal Afar “unfolding relatively soon.”

The upcoming fight follows weeks of Iraq regrouping troops and repairing equipment and weapons after recapturing Mosul.

“I can’t say that we replaced every single damaged or broken vehicle or rifle or machine gun,” said Townsend, whose forces are aiding the Iraqi military. But, he insisted: “They’ll be ready enough.”

Tal Afar and the surrounding area is among the last pockets of Daesh-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. Tal Afar is west of Mosul and about 150 km east of the Syrian border. It sits along a major road that was a key Daesh supply route.

“The last days of Mosul looked like Iwo Jima to me,” Townsend told a small group of reporters.

“In the end, it took bulldozers plowing ISIS (Daesh) fighters under the rubble,” he recalled. “Iraqi infantry men advanced beside the bulldozers, shooting and throwing grenades at Daesh fighters popping up out of the rubble.”