Iraqi army to move brigade to Mosul: Defense minister

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – The army plans to soon deploy an armored brigade from capital Baghdad to Iraq’s northern city of Mosul in advance of a planned operation to retake the city from the Daesh terrorist organization, Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said Monday.

"This brigade will play a major role in the upcoming campaign to retake Mosul," al-Obeidi asserted.

One armored brigade consists of between two and five battalions, each of which includes from 3,000 to 5,000 military personnel.

In a related development Monday, Kurdish peshmerga forces reportedly captured three more villages southeast of Daesh-held Mosul.

"Peshmerga forces have managed to make progress in the Al-Kuwair and Al-Khazar areas, retaking three villages southeast of Mosul," a peshmerga captain told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Peshmerga officer Sherzad Zajuli, speaking to Anadolu Agency on Monday, confirmed that Kurdish forces had wrested the villages of Al-Hasoodiyya, Kanhash al-Saghira and Kanhash al-Kabira from the grip of Daesh.

Zajuli went on to report that peshmerga forces on Sunday had successfully retaken nine other villages southeast of Mosul.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh captured Mosul along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

While the Iraqi army, backed by its allies on the ground and U.S.-led airstrikes, has since managed to retake much lost territory, Daesh remains in firm control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.