MESOP MOSUL : BARZANIS ANNOUNCEMENT – Kurdish forces pause offensive in Mosul, say Iraqi army will advance

KHAZER, Iraq,—  18 Oct 2016 – Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga forces say they are pausing in their advance on Mosul after capturing a handful of villages to the east from the Islamic State group as the Iraqi army presses ahead with the next stage of the operation to retake the IS-held city. Col. Khathar Sheikhan of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces says his troops achieved their objectives and “are just holding our positions” in the Khazer area on Tuesday.

The pause comes after a day of intense fighting involving airstrikes, heavy artillery and IS car bombs.The battle for Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the IS group’s last urban bastion, started on Monday. It’s expected to take weeks or even months. The 24-hour operation was the first that Kurds carried out as part of the offensive on Mosul announced Monday before dawn by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, with the backing of the U.S-led anti-Islamic State coalition.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani announced up to 200 square kilometers were regained by Peshmerga forces during the Monday Mosul operation. Barzani said during a press conference at Khazir frontlines on Monday Peshmerga launched operations in several areas against Islamic State militants. www.mesop.de