Iraqi army sets up forward HQ south of Daesh-held Mosul

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi army’s Joint Operations Command has set up a new headquarters southeast of Daesh-held Mosul in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, an Iraqi army spokesman said Monday.

"A new Joint Operations Command HQ was established in the Makhmour district today in a forward position after our forces advanced along several axes towards Mosul," Yahia Rasoul, spokesman for the army’s Nineveh Operations Command, said.

He added that the new command center -- closer to Mosul -- would replace an earlier headquarters also located in Makhmour.

According to Rasoul, the new headquarters will temporarily host Joint Operations Deputy Commander Lieutenant-General Abdul Amir Rasheed and Nineveh Operations Commander Major-General Najim al-Jubouri.

The new headquarters will serve as command-and-control center for an army campaign to retake Mosul that began Monday morning, Rasoul said, adding that two auxiliary HQs -- both located in Erbil -- were also playing pivotal roles in the campaign.

On recent developments in the field, Rasoul said Iraqi army forces on Monday had cleared the villages of Khan Harami, Abdulaziz al-Nujayfi, Al-Adlah and Ibrahim al-Khalil -- all located on Mosul’s outskirts -- of Daesh elements.

"Operations are still underway; another army force now stands on the outskirts of [western Mosul’s] Al-Hamdaniya district," he told Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, he added, a second force "has imposed a security cordon around the Sahl Nineveh areas north and west of Mosul".

The spokesman went on to say that the Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias, had not yet appeared to have made any inroads on the city.

The Hashd al-Shaabi’s potential participation in the campaign has been controversial, since the Shia militia group has been accused in the past of committing rights violations against Sunni-Muslim populations in areas taken from Daesh, including Iraq’s western city of Fallujah.

Nevertheless, several videos were posted on Monday afternoon on social-media sites that appeared to show militants from the Hashd al-Shaabi-linked Badr Organization firing rockets towards Mosul.

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when Daesh captured Mosul -- Iraq’s second largest city -- and overran large swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by its local allies on the ground and a 60-nation air coalition led by the U.S., retake much territory.

Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.

In recent weeks, the army and its allies have gradually advanced on the city, which officials in Baghdad have vowed to "liberate" by year’s end.