Laying out details of the expected Mosul operation for the first time, the official from US. Central Command said five Iraqi Army brigades will soon go through coalition training in Iraq to prepare for the mission.
Those five would make up the core fighting force that would launch the attack, but they would be supplemented by three smaller brigades serving as reserve forces, along with three Peshmerga brigades who would contain the Islamic State fighters from the north and west.
The Peshmerga are Kurdish forces from northern Iraq.
The official said there also would be a Mosul fighting force, largely made up of former Mosul police and tribal forces, who would have to be ready to go back into the city once the army units clear out the Islamic State fighters.
Included in the force would be a brigade of Iraqi counterterrorism forces who have been trained by US special operations forces. The brigades include roughly 2000 troops each. The official was not authorised to discuss the operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said the US will provide military support for the operation, including training, air support, intelligence and surveillance. The official said there has been no decision made yet on whether to send in some US ground troops to help call in air strikes.
Islamic State militants overtook Mosul last June, as the group marched across large sections of Iraq and Syria, sending Iraqi forces fleeing. At this point, officials estimate there are between 1000 to 2000 Islamic State insurgents in the city of Mosul. Military leaders have been talking about retaking the city for some time, but they have said they won’t launch the operation until the Iraqi troops are ready.
The official said they wanted to retake Mosul in the spring, before the summer heat and the holiday month of Ramadan kick in.
“But by the same token, if they’re not ready, if the conditions are not set, if all the equipment they need is not physically there and they (aren’t) trained to a degree in which they will be successful, we have not closed the door on continuing to slide that to the right,” he said.
The official also revealed for the first time that Qatar has agreed to host a training site for coalition forces to train moderate Syrian rebels who would return to Syria to fight the Islamic State forces there. Other sites are in Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Turkey and the US signed an agreement today to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting IS that could begin next month. It is not clear who will decide which rebels will receive the training.
The two countries have been in talks about such a pact for several months. The deal was signed by US ambassador John Bass and Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, said US embassy in Ankara spokesman Joe Wierichs. He gave no further details.
Sinirlioglu called the deal “an important step” in the strategic partnership between Turkey and the US, according to Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish government has said the training by US and Turkish soldiers could begin as early as next month at a base in the central Anatolian city of Kirsehir, and involve hundreds of Syrian fighters in the first year.
The US has said the goal is to go after the Islamic State group, but Turkish officials have suggested that the trained rebels could also target the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
With its long border on Syria, Turkey is a key part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group.
But negotiations with the Americans over what to do about the Islamic militants have been fraught with disagreement — with Turkey insisting that the coalition needs to also target the Assad government.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey expected that the trained rebels will also fight the Syrian regime. Turkey is already training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq, who have been battling Islamic State militants.
It is not clear who will decide which rebels will receive the training. US and Turkish officials have not always been in agreement about which of the disparate rebel groups in Syria should be considered moderate.
On Wednesday, the US Defense Department said that the US had screened about 1200 moderate Syrian rebels to participate in training in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The US Congress passed legislation authorising the training and providing $US500 million for training about 5000 rebels over the next year. (theaustralian.com.au)
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