Final Battle
Sounds like famous last words, but that’s what al-Maliki says is shaping up in Ninevah. UK Telegraph:
Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki yesterday declared a “decisive battle” against al-Qa’eda sympathisers in Mosul, the last major city under the organisation’s sway, had been launched.
The announcement that additional forces were being sent to the northern city of 1.5 million was issued a day after the city’s police chief was killed by a suicide bomber.
Mr Maliki said a campaign throughout the surrounding province of Nineveh would strike at strongholds of renegade groups battling the Baghdad government and its American allies. “We have set up an operations room in Nineveh to complete the final battle with al-Qa’eda along with guerrillas and members of the previous regime,” he said. “Today our forces started moving to Mosul. What we are planning in Nineveh will be decisive.”
Mosul has repeatedly slipped in and out of al-Qa’eda control since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. The ancient Arab trading centre has emerged as a haven for al-Qa’eda fighters pushed out of Anbar and Baghdad, where locals have agreed ceasefires and began co-operating with US troops.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, the senior US spokesman in Baghdad, this week issued a gloomy warning that al-Qa’eda was entrenched in Mosul’s population. “Mosul will continue to be a centre of influence for, centre of gravity for, al-Qa’eda,” he said. “The flow through Mosul is critical for al-Qaida in Iraq.”
The numbers of additional Iraqi forces ordered to Mosul was not released yesterday. In any case a successful operation would be spearheaded by US forces, which have not yet been reinforced.
When the American army launched Operation Phantom Thunder at the start of this year the battle plan focused on four northern provinces, including Nineveh. Heavy fighting has centred on Diyala in the opening stages but a battle for Mosul looms as its crucial test.
3000 Iraqi cops enroute. AFP.
Roggio with background on Mosul and AQ’s recent activities at Fourth Rail.
Topics: Iraq, al qaeda, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:43 am on Saturday, January 26, 2008
2 Responses to “Final Battle”
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January 26th, 2008 at 10:10 am
“We have a real Iraqi army. I want to say that to all those people who think they can do things in front of the Iraqi security forces that those days have gone.”
I hope so.
Mosul is where Uday and Qusay met their maker.
January 27th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Interesting bit from the AFP article: “Brigadier General Wathiq al-Hamdani …. said another 2,000 police would also be recruited, with preference being given to family members of those killed in Wednesday’s building blast.”
Does that sound like they’ve got more folks trying to sign up than they can take?
If they’re finally moving on Mosul, I’m hoping that means things in the Upper Diyala have been progressing well enough to keep that door into Baghdad closed while they head north.