Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Monday his country was planning to regain Mosul as he stressed the need for more arms and equipment to defeat the Takfiri group, ISIL.

In an interview with the BBC, Abadi that Iraq was making preparations to regain control of Mosul which was occupied by the Takfiris last summer.

He said there were enough fighters on the ground but they needed arms and equipment to defeat ISIL.

Meanwhile, he hailed the “acceleration” of international support to the fight against ISIL.

“I was a bit frustrated in my first three months of being a prime minister because of the slowness of this support but I’ve seen in the last probably four weeks, five weeks, there is an acceleration of the support,” Abadi added.

“I think the air bombing and the air campaign has increased in its intensity and its quality.”

Al-Manar