A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier walks inside a house previously used by the Islamic State in Faziliya, north of Mosul, Iraq. Picture by Felipe Dana AP/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.The much anticipated operation to liberate Mosul has been underway for two weeks already. The Iraqi army, Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni and Shia militias are all involved and supported by a US-led coalition and its airstrikes. The operation marks the return of US forces to Iraq after the controversial withdrawal in 2011. Since the emergence of ISIL in 2014, the number of US military advisors slowly but steadily increased to over 5000. After more than two years of the ‘train and equip’ program for Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga, the early signs of the operation seem promising showing a good level of cooperation between the various military groups involved, something many analysts warned could further complicate the future of the liberated territories.
Addressing the crowd of journalists on the Khazir front, Masoud Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, announced the success of the first round of the operation and praised the coordination between the Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga calling it ‘historic’. Barzani added that this is the first time the two forces shed blood together. He also warned that the operation could be a lengthy one pointed out the absence of a political agreement between Erbil and Baghdad besides the military one.
Post-ISIL Mosul
Policy makers and analysts had previously urged for the non-military elements to be addressed prior to launching any offensive against ISIL in Iraq’s second largest city which is also the last ISIL stronghold in the country. Earlier in September, a report by the Middle East Research Institute urged for the structural issues that led to the emergence of ISIL to be taken into account to avoid any void in the aftermath of the operation.
