Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul could take two weeks to reach the city and two months to liberate it from Islamic State (Isis) control, a general involved in the battle has said. Sirwan Barzani, a brigadier general of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces told CNN that bad weather could prolong the battle yet further. Europeans must get ready for jihadis fleeing Mosul, says EU security expert Read more“They say Turkey should not enter Mosul. There are 18,000 Iraqi army troops involved in the offensive and about 10,000 Kurdish peshmerga, against an estimated 5,000 Isis fighters thought to be inside Mosul city and its outskirts. Of the 5,000 US military personnel in Iraq, only about 100 are near the frontlines, advising Kurdish and Iraqi army units and helping target air strikes, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Source: The Guardian October 18, 2016 21:27 UTC