CARTER CHECKS UP ON FIGHT TO RETAKE MOSUL
>> BAGHDAD: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter arrived on an unannounced visit to Baghdad yesterday to get an assessment of the US-backed Iraqi campaign to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (IS).
“We will see the prime minister [Haider al-Abadi] and get his best assessment on where we are with the Mosul operations,” a senior US defence official said, briefing reporters ahead of the trip.
The offensive that started on Monday to capture Mosul is expected to become the biggest battle fought in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. With air and ground support from the US-led coalition, Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters captured about 50 villages south, east and north of Mosul.
“It’s the beginning of the campaign. We do feel positively about how things have started off, particularly with the complicated nature of this operation,” the official said.
Still, the UN says Mosul could require the biggest humanitarian relief operation in the world, with worst-case scenario forecasts of up to a million people being uprooted.
About 1.5 million residents are still believed to be inside Mosul. Beyond being briefed on the campaign itself, Mr Carter is expected to hear about preparations for the stabilisation of Mosul in the event the IS is defeated.
The defence official said the briefings would focus on “day-after scenarios” in Mosul, including humanitarian assistance and planning on governance of the city.
“This is a recognition that for success in Mosul really means more than just the military part of the assault. It really means the follow-up,” the official said.
Mosul is the last big stronghold held by the IS in Iraq and about five times the size of any other city the group has held. The battle could stretch on for weeks or months, officials say.
In a possible sign of IS tactics as Iraqi forces focus on Mosul, militants attacked the oil city of Kirkuk overnight from Friday to yesterday, killing at least 35 people. Brig Gen Khattab Omer of the Kirkuk police said the siege ended yesterday morning after all the attackers were killed or blew themselves up.