Latest departure from Obama’s pledge involves ‘forward air controllers’ spotting for airstrikes to ensure accuracy, as part of offensive to reclaim city from Isis

Although the battle to oust Islamic State from Mosul is led by Iraqi military forces and Kurdish peshmerga auxiliaries, elite international forces are playing a major role in a fight that Baghdad and Washington consider pivotal in the defeat of the jihadi group.



In a statement on Monday morning, the American general in charge of the coalition’s war in Iraq and Syria, Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, openly acknowledged the presence of “forward air controllers” amongst the US “advisory” contributions to the battle.

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Those controllers – known as Joint Terminal Air Controllers, or Jtacs, and drawn from US special operations forces – are the troops on the ground who spot for airstrikes, in an attempt to ensure greater accuracy of aerial bombardment. Their presence indicates that US troops, while not formally in a combat role, are on the frontlines and willing to use substantial airpower on Iraq’s second city.

The US command’s acknowledgment of their presence is a departure from previous battles in two years of war against Isis. Members of the US Congress have criticized the Pentagon for relaying airstrike spotting through coordination cells far from the fight, including in an operations center in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil.

Having US troops spotting airstrikes is both the latest departure from Barack Obama’s pledge against having “boots on the ground” and an effort at ensuring more accurate targeting of Isis strongholds in the city.

“Jtacs are the difference between precision bombing and area bombing,” said Christopher Harmer, a former US navy pilot who said their presence indicated the US was willing to “incur casualties” in Mosul.

“With Jtacs, you can select individual targets in real time and accurately strike them. Without Jtacs, you can only bomb a general area and hope for success.”

The UK and France are also believed to have their own special forces involved in retaking Mosul. Earlier this month, two French special operations forces training peshmerga were seriously injured by a jury-rigged Isis drone which exploded after crashing near them in Dohuk, 46 miles (75km) north of the city.

While it is unclear what specifically the UK and French contributions to the battle are, it is believed British special forces will also aid in calling in airstrikes. France has sent approximately 150 troops to operate four 155mm Caesar howitzers as part of its taskforce Wagram. The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, carrying 24 Rafale combat planes, is also in the eastern Mediterranean to support the war.

As the long-anticipated battle began on Monday, US warplanes launched substantial bombing runs on positions around Mosul. The US reported attacking three units of Isis fighters, two staging areas for their operations, 12 Isis rally points and even a bridge. Six tunnel entrances, an anti-artillery system, four generators powering communications-signal towers and four mortar systems were destroyed, according to the US military.

In a sign that the coalition is bracing for a grueling campaign, Townsend, the US commander, said that the fight was likely to last “weeks, possibly longer”.