UPDATE - Offensive begins to liberate Iraq’s Mosul from Daesh

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM PESHMERGA MINISTRY

BAGHDAD (AA) – A much-anticipated Mosul offensive to liberate the city from Daesh began midnight Sunday, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

In an address on state television, Abadi said only the army and police would be in the city. He called on people in Mosul to be in solidarity with the security forces.

However, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) also said a simultaneous operation had started against the Daesh terrorist organization with the participation KRG peshmerga forces.

In a statement, the KRG Peshmerga Ministry, said its forces deployed on the Khazir front -- 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Mosul -- and the Iraqi army on southern Guver and Geyyara fronts began striking Daesh positions as of 4 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) Monday.

The number of peshmerga was 4,000, the KRG said, adding that the operation was carried out based on an agreement between the Kurdish administration and the federal government of Iraq.

U.S.-led coalition jets also supported peshmerga forces, it said.

A peshmerga commander told Anadolu Agency that approximately 15,000 fighters would participate in the offensive on several fronts in eastern and southeastern Mosul.

Another officer, Col. Seyit Khajar from the Khazir front, said as many as 18,000 fighters could take on Daesh.

The primary targets of the offensive are reportedly the Hamdaniya and Karakus districts of Mosul.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter described the launch as a "decisive moment" to completely defeat Daesh and said the government had confidence in its Iraqi partners to free Mosul and the rest of Iraq from the Daesh terror group.

"The United States and the rest of the international coalition stand ready to support Iraqi Security Forces, Peshmerga fighters and the people of Iraq in the difficult fight ahead," Carter said in a statement.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul and overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by a 60-nation air coalition led by the U.S., retake a large portion of that territory.

Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul, which officials in Baghdad vowed to liberate by the end of the year.