Daesh ‘on brink of defeat’ after losing 90% of west Mosul: Officers

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take position as they advance towards Mosul's Al-Oraibi western district, in this May 14, 2017 photo, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Daesh group fighters. (AFP)

MOSUL: Iraqi forces have recaptured nearly 90 percent of west Mosul from Daesh and terrorists in the city are on the “brink of total defeat,” officers said Tuesday.
Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake Mosul from Daesh nearly seven months ago, fighting their way to the militant-held city, retaking its eastern side and then attacking the west.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, told a news conference in Baghdad that Daesh now controls just over 10 percent of west Mosul.
Both Staff Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab Al-Saadi, a senior Iraqi special forces commander, and Col. John Dorrian, the spokesman for the US-led international coalition against Daesh, said that the end was near for terrorists in the city.
“They have two options: Die and go to hell or raise the white flag. They have no third option,” Saadi told AFP at his headquarters in Mosul.
“The enemy is completely surrounded,” Dorrian told the news conference in Baghdad. “The enemy is on the brink of total defeat in Mosul.”
The drive to retake Mosul has been supported by a campaign of coalition air strikes in and around the city.
Dorrian said that coalition strikes have destroyed more than 300 explosives-rigged vehicles in Mosul, as well as over 200 Daesh tunnels and more than a thousand fighting positions of the terror group.
Daesh now controls just a handful of neighborhoods around the Old City, one of the country’s heritage jewels.
The area’s narrow streets and closely spaced buildings make it difficult for federal forces to take on the terrorists, requiring them to fight on foot instead of from vehicles as they have previously done.