Battle for Mosul: Kurds, PMU to Coordinate after Sealing Off City

Local Editor

Iraqi Kurdish and Popular Mobilization Unit forces agreed to coordinate movements after cutting off Mosul from the rest of the territory held by Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] in western Iraq and Syria in support of a US-backed offensive to capture the city, US and Iraqi officials said on Thursday.

The agreement was reached at meeting on Wednesday between commanders of Kurdish Peshmerga forces deployed in Sinjar, west of Mosul, and Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, the biggest component of the Popular Mobilization.

Popular mobilization, or Hashid Shaabi, deployed southwest of Mosul to complete the encirclement of Daesh's last major city stronghold in Iraq.

Mosul was already ringed to the north, south and east by Iraqi government forces and the Peshmerga. Iraq's US-trained Counter Terrorism Service unit breached Daesh defenses in east Mosul at the end of October and is fighting to expand its foothold there.

The offensive started on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a US-led coalition. It is turning into the most complex campaign in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Al-Amiri "came in order to coordinate with us," said Mahma Xelil, the mayor of Sinjar, a city where Daesh committed its worst atrocities after taking over the region two years ago, martyring and enslaving thousands from the Yazidi minority.

Controlling the road will make it easier for the Iraqi army to enter Tal Afar, Xelil said. "There must be cooperation between us to prevent ‘ISIS' from moving their equipment and their fighters," he added.

Sinjar was recaptured a year ago by the Peshmerga, forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq. It lies west of Tal Afar, another stronghold of Daesh, 60 km [40 miles] west of Mosul.

"The joining of these forces greatly reduces the freedom of movement of ‘ISIL' insurgents in and out of Mosul," said Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led coalition, referring to Daesh. "They have already lost the effective ability to move in large numbers, but now this has been made more difficult for them."

Another prominent leader of the Popular Mobilization units, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, said on Wednesday the forces had linked up with the Peshmerga near Sinjar, completing the encirclement of a region that extends from Mosul and Tal Afar.

Mohandes said Popular Mobilization would try next to separate Mosul from Tal Afar, which lies on the route between Mosul and Raqqa, the main city of the militant group's self-styled "caliphate" in Syria.

Thousands of civilians fled Tal Afar as Popular Mobilization closed in on the town. The exodus is worrying humanitarian organizations as some of the civilians are heading into insurgent territory, where aid cannot be sent to them, provincial officials said on Wednesday.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team