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Iraq 'push to retake Mosul from IS from April'

February 19, 2015

The operation to retake Iraq's second largest city from Islamic State militants will likely begin in April or May, US Central Command says. If Iraqi forces are not ready by then, the operation could be delayed.

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Irak Mosul Offensiv
Image: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

An Iraqi and Kurdish military force of some 20,000 to 25,000 troops is being prepared to recapture the city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters, probably in the April-May time frame, an official at the US Central Command said on Thursday, adding that five Iraqi Army brigades will soon go through coalition training in Iraq.

The official also confirmed there are about 1,000 to 2,000 Islamic State insurgents in the city of Mosul. The group overtook the northern Iraqi city last June. Military leaders have been talking about retaking the city for some time.

No decision has been made on whether small numbers of US military advisers might need to be on the ground close to Mosul to direct close air support.

Mosul, which was home to more than a million people, fell to IS last June.

jil/rc (Reuters, AP)

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