Iraq set for IS battle

BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces have started preparing an offensive to capture the western side of Mosul from Islamic State, campaign commander Lieutenant-General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah said.

Popular Mobilisation “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, he said on TV.

Popular Mobilisation is a coalition of predominantly Iranian-trained Shia groups, formed in 2014 to take part in the war on IS. – Reuters