IS losing the battle

Re: “Iraqi forces make gains”. After losing Tikrit in April 2015 and Fallujah in June 2016, the Islamic State (IS) has been left with little territory under its control in Iraq. Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, is its last significant bastion. It was where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate” in June 2014. It was the ability of the IS to establish territorial control and run an administration that qualitatively separated it from other radical jihadi groups such as al-Qaeda.

The capture of Mosul symbolised its effectiveness in combat against a weakly organised Iraqi army and a sectarian Iraqi state, then under former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. When a coalition of Iraqi armed forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, Shia militia groups supported by US-led air strikes and other special forces marched on Mosul on Monday, the long-planned offensive to defeat the IS decisively was finally put into action.

The offensive to dislodge the estimated 5,000 IS fighters is expected to last many weeks: It will not be easy, even if the IS is a much weakened force compared to what it was in 2014.

The United Nations Refugee Agency expects a million people to be displaced during the conflict and requires international funding to help organise shelter for them.

It is necessary for the UN to look ahead to ease the humanitarian crisis that could follow after the Mosul battle and help Iraq in its reconstruction.

We wish to see Mosul taken over from the IS, a clear sign of world powers and unity, against a despicable caliphate! R SRINATH Assumption University