Updated February 19, 2017 21:36:54
US-backed Iraqi forces have launched a large-scale military operation to dislodge Islamic State (IS) militants from the western half of Mosul city, which has been in the hands of extremists since 2014.
Key points:
- Iraqi PM announced assault on IS militants in western Mosul in television address
- US-backed forces advancing from southwest of the city
- Eastern Mosul retaken from IS last month
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the operation on state TV, saying government forces were moving to "liberate the people of Mosul from Daesh oppression and terrorism forever", using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Mr Al-Abadi called on security forces to deal with civilians properly and respect human rights.
US-led coalition jets struck militant positions southwest of Mosul early Sunday morning (local time) and militarised police fired artillery toward the city.
Heavily armed police units were getting ready to move north with their armoured vehicles from a base just southwest of the city.
"This is zero hour and we are going to end this war, God willing," Mahmoud Mansour, a police officer, said as he prepared to move out.
Photo: Iraqi security forces advance towards the western side of Mosul. (Reuters: Khalid al Mousily) The Commander of the US-led coalition forces, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, hailed the Iraqi forces in a statement as an "increasingly capable, formidable, and professional force".
"Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world, and the Iraqi forces have risen to the challenge," Lieutenant General Townsend said.
"They have taken the fight to the enemy and sacrificed their blood for the people of Iraq and the rest of the world."
Shortly after the announcement, the United Nations warned that hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped inside their houses were "at extreme risk" with dwindling fuel and food supplies and scare drinking water and electricity.
Eastern Mosul was retaken from IS by Iraqi forces last month after a three-month battle, but the west of the city remains in the hands of the extremists.
Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the last IS urban stronghold in the country, fell into the hands of the extremists in the summer of 2014, when the group captured large swaths of northern and western Iraq.
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Photo: A displaced woman covers her daughter after fleeing the battle near Mosul. (Reuters: Adhmed Jadallah) -
Photo: Iraqi soldier treks into battle. (ABC News: Aaron Hollett) -
Photo: Locals are hopeful the cruel rule of IS is over. (Reuters: Azad Lashkari) -
Photo: Members of the Iraqi rapid response forces stand on the top of vehicle during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in Wahda district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, January 8, 2017. (Reuters: Alaa Al-Marjani) -
Photo: Displaced people who fled the clashes walk past Iraqi security forces vehicles during a battle with Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 30, 2016. (Reuters: Alaa Al-Marjani) -
Photo: Members of the Shiite Badr Organisation fighters take cover behind a berm during a battle with Islamic State militants at the airport of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq, November 20, 2016. (Reuters: Khalid al Mousily) -
Photo: Iraqi special forces policemen dance while holding up weapons outside Karamah, south of Mosul, Iraq November 11, 2016. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic) -
Photo: An Iraqi soldier gestures along a street in the Intisar district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, November 14, 2016. (Reuters: Air Jalal) -
Photo: A family fleeing fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi army in Intisar district of eastern Mosul, make their way to safer territory, November 8, 2016. (Reuters: Zohra Bensemra) -
Photo: Iraqi soldiers pose with the Islamic State flag along a street in the Intisar district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, November 14, 2016, after capturing the same area from this district from the Islamic State on November 3. (Reuters: Air Jalal) -
Photo: An Iraqi special forces soldier stands atop a Humvee in the village of Bazwaia, some eight kilometres from the centre of Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. (AP: Marko Drobnjakovic) -
Photo: Iraqi special forces soldiers move in formation in an alley on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq, Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. Heavy fighting erupted in the eastern neighbourhoods of Mosul on Friday as Iraqi special forces launched an assault deeper into the urban areas of the city and swung round to attack Islamic State militants from a second entry point, to the northeast. (AP: Marko Drobnjakovic) -
Photo: Tribal fighters walk as fire and smoke rises from oil wells, set ablaze by Islamic State militants before IS militants fled the oil-producing region of Qayyara, Iraq, November 1, 2016. (Reuters: Alaa Al-Marjani) -
Photo: A member of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) kisses a shiite flag on the top of a military vehicle on the outskirts of Bartila, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, October 19, 2016 (Reuters: Azad Lashkari) -
Photo: FILE - In this May 27, 2015 photo, Iraqi Shiite Hezbollah Brigade militiamen prepare their armoured vehicles for fighting against the Islamic State group in the front line after regaining control of eastern Husaybah town, 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of Ramadi, Iraq. State-sanctioned Shiite militias launched an assault on the Islamic State group west of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, but reiterated that they would not enter the Sunni majority city. Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, said they launched an offensive Saturday along with other large militias toward the town of Tel Afar, which had a Shiite majority before it fell to IS in 2014. (AP) -
Photo: Peshmerga military vehicles drive in Nawaran north of Mosul during an operation to attack Islamic State militants, Iraq October 26, 2016. (Reuters: Ari Jalal) -
Photo: Iraqi army soldiers are seen beside their armoured vehicles as a smoke from a nearby sulfur plant set alight by Islamic State militants rises behind, on the outskirts of Qayyara, south of Mosul, Iraq, October 23, 2016. (Reuters: Zohra Bensemra) -
Photo: Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces advance toward Islamic State positions as fighting to retake the extremist-held city of Mosul enters its second week, in the village of Tob Zawa, outside Mosul, Monday, October 24, 2016. (AP: Khalid Mohammed) -
Photo: A convoy of armoured vehicles belonging to international coalition troops drive during the operation against Islamic State militants outside the town of Naweran near Mosul, Iraq on October 23, 2016. (Reuters: Azad Lashkari) -
Photo: Smoke rises at Islamic State militants' positions in the town of Naweran, near Mosul, Iraq, October 23, 2016 (Reuters: Azed Lashkari) -
Photo: Peshmerga forces fire a mortar towards Islamic state militants' positions in the town of Naweran near Mosul, October 23, 2016. (Reuters: Azad Lashkari) -
Photo: An Iraqi special forces soldier stands in a Christian cemetery inside a church compound damaged by Islamic States fighters in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic) -
Photo: Iraqi army gather after the liberation of a village from Islamic State militants, south of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, October 21, 2016, as toxic smoke is seen over the area after Islamic State militants set fire to a sulphur factory. (Reuters: Thaier Al-Sudan ) -
Photo: Peshmerga forces stand behind rocks at a site of an attack by Islamic State militants in Kirkuk, Iraq, October 21, 2016. (Reuters: Ako Rasheed) -
Photo: Peshmerga forces prepare their anti-tank guided missiles in front of Islamic State militants' positions at the town of Naweran near Mosul, Iraq October 20, 2016. (Reuters: Zohra Bensemra) -
Photo: Smoke rises from clashes in the east of Mosul during clashes with Islamic State militants, Iraq, October 17, 2016. (Reuters: Azad Lashkari) -
Photo: Kurdish security forces take up a position as they fight overlooking the Islamic State-controlled in villages surrounding Mosul, in Khazer, about 30 kilometres east of Mosul, Iraq on October 17, 2016. (AP) -
Photo: Iraqi army soldiers raise their weapons in celebration on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. (AP) -
Photo: Displaced people who have fled ISIS territory gather in the village of Tinah, south west of Mosul. (Supplied: Thomas Robinson/Oxfam) -
Photo: Smoke rising over rows of tents at the Tinah camp, from oil fields burning in the distance. (Supplied: Thomas Robinson/Oxfam) -
Photo: Two young children living at Golat camp in Debaga north of Mosul pose for a photo, while men construct more tents in the background. (Supplied: Amy Christian/Oxfam) -
Photo: Mokhtar (village head) Nisr Amr, 35, sits with his son in the ruins of his father's house in the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70km south of Mosul. October 13, 2016. (Oxfam: Sam Tarling ) -
Photo: Omar stands inside by the ruins of his brother's house in the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70km south of Mosul, Iraq, on October 13, 2016.
The house was destroyed by Islamic State, when they took control of the village in 2014. (Oxfam: Sam Tarling ) -
Photo: Children run beside military vehicles passing by in the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70km south of Mosul, Iraq. October 13, 2016. (Oxfam: Sam Tarling ) -
Photo: Smoke from burning oil fields in Al Qarrayah fills the sky near the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70km south of Mosul, Iraq, on October 13, 2016. (Oxfam: Sam Tarling) -
Photo: Children watch military vehicles pass by in the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70km south of Mosul, Iraq, on October 13, 2016. (Oxfam: Sam Tarling )
AP
First posted February 19, 2017 21:19:48
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