Daesh's days in Mosul 'are numbered', Pentagon says

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Daesh is "surrounded on all sides" in Mosul by superior fighters, the Pentagon said Monday as Iraqi-led forces continue their campaign to wrest control of the city from the group.

“Their days there, particularly in east Mosul, are numbered and they are beginning to realize it,” spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters.

The U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition has carried out seven air strikes in the past 24 hours to assist local forces, Davis said. And the coalition has recently doubled its number of advisors on the ground assisting the effort, with forces there now roughly totaling 450.

A total of 4,500 civilians recently fled the northern Iraqi city as the government forces launched the second phase of the operation.

Daesh seized Mosul in its entirety from Iraqi forces in 2014, later entrenching themselves in the dense urban setting.

Efforts to retake the city have been met with fierce resistance, and a planned goal by the end of 2016 could not be achieved. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in December 2016 that at least three more months would be required to completely remove Daesh from Iraq.

Since the operation began last October, Iraqi forces have reportedly recaptured more than a quarter of Mosul, once considered Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population.

The head of the Iraq’s parliamentary committee for refugee affairs, Ra'ad al-Dahlaki, said last week that 145,000 civilians have fled the city since the beginning of the operation.