Three-pronged attack brings troops to within six miles of Iraq’s second city as Isis fighters appear to be retreating

Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi special forces have advanced to within about six miles of the city of Mosul, after launching a three-pronged attack early on Thursday against dug-in Islamic State militants.

Hundreds of armoured vehicles, including tanks and Humvees, began a large-scale offensive at about 6am local time, the Kurdish peshmerga general command said in a statement. Their target was a sprawling series of villages to the north and north-east of Mosul held by Isis fighters.

Heavy guns and artillery trundled towards the frontline village of Nawaran, nine miles (14km) north of Mosul, which the peshmerga seized within an hour. According to a peshmerga captain, US and British special forces took part in the operation. The British turned up in white bulletproof 4x4 vehicles and a pick-up truck, while the Americans drove MRAPs (mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles).

Within half an hour of the start of the operation, Isis flew two drones over the peshmerga and coalition forces’ positions. This prompted a deafening crackle of gunfire in which one drone was shot down. The other managed to get away.



Why is the battle for Mosul significant? Mosul is Islamic State's last urban stronghold in Iraq, and the assault is the most critical challenge yet to the group's caliphate. Since Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of a caliphate from the city in June 2014, Mosul has been central to the group’s ambitions to spread its ruthless interpretation of Islamic law throughout the Arab world and beyond. Victory over Isis appears very likely, but there are concerns about what comes next: how to provide for up to 1.3 million refugees and how to re-establish governance in a city brutalised by tyranny.

Simultaneously, Iraqi special forces staged their own advance along another key entry point into Mosul. Maj Gen Maan al-Saadi said elite troops had moved towards the largely abandoned town of Bartella, backed by airstrikes from the US-led coalition and heavy artillery.

They entered Bartella a few hours later. The head of Iraq’s special forces, Gen Talib Shaghati, said two soldiers had been hurt in the operation. At least 15 militants had been killed, he said, adding: “After Bartella is Mosul, God willing.”

The US military said that one American service member died in northern Iraq from wounds inflicted by a bomb.

Isis seized Bartella two years ago, during a rapid military offensive in which the group occupied a series of mixed villages east of Mosul in the Nineveh plains. The fighters now appear to be retreating. By the end of the day, Kurdish and Iraqi forces had seized a string of villages including Khalidiya, south of Mosul. Kurdish TV showed civilians cheering and waving white handkerchiefs.

On Wednesday a US general said Isis leaders had begun to flee Mosul, leaving foreign volunteers to face the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces.



Iraqi special forces are expected to lead the way into Mosul, where they will face fierce resistance in a densely populated landscape, with Isis militants preparing for a climactic battle and laying booby-traps. An Isis vehicle laden with explosives was blown up on Thursday near Mosul dam.

The offensive is the biggest operation by Iraqi forces since the 2003 US-led invasion. It is expected to take weeks, if not months.



However, speaking in a video conference call to Paris from Baghdad, the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, said on Thursday that Iraqi forces were moving faster than expected. “The forces are currently pushing forward towards the town more quickly than we thought and more quickly, certainly, than we established in our plan of campaign,” he said.

After retaking Nawaran, the peshmerga faced resistance at another village, Barima. Despite an airstrike on an Isis position, at lunchtime on Thursday a group of Isis militants were holed up in the village and fighting back.



Kurdish forces were moving towards the foot of the Bashiqa mountain, their target the strategic town of Bashiqa, once the multi-ethnic home of Christians, Yazidis and Muslims. With coalition jets in the sky above, US and UK special forces mingled with the peshmerga and filmed the operation as it unfolded.

Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) #BREAKING: Intense fighting between Peshmerga forces and Islamic State group in Bashiqa. #MosulOffensive pic.twitter.com/84pi3eMEtX

Gen Bahram Arif Yassin, whose brigade played a key role in the offensive at Nawaran, visited the village shortly afterwards. He said: “Around 20,000 peshmerga took part in today’s operation on three frontlines.”

The general was flanked by his men. In the distance, smoke billowed in the direction of Mosul. “America is an old partner of the Kurds and the American expertise in targeting Isis has been very important,” the general added, when asked about the role the coalition forces had played.

US-led airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq – interactive Read more

The peshmerga quickly made a berm in the middle of the road to prevent Isis suicide bombers from driving vehicles into them. An airstrike less than a mile away created a huge plume of smoke. It was unclear if the strike’s target was a suicide bomber.

On a hill not far from the Kurdish general, a middle-aged peshmerga soldier was listening in to Isis radio chatter. “Abu Omar, please give the location,” radioed one Isis militant. The other Isis fighter responded affirmatively. Despite not putting up much of a fight in these villages, the militants sounded calm and composed on the radio.



Peshmerga Delkhwaz Salim, 23, who has fought Isis since mid-2014, said: “We will go to Shalalat and Bashiqa and we will not move further. Daesh [Isis] is nothing. If we have operations like this every day we can take control of Mosul within 15-20 days.”

The operation has not progressed without cost. At least five peshmerga were killed on Thursday by bombs laid by Isis across the three frontlines, with several others wounded.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from several western and Middle Eastern countries were meeting in Paris to discuss how to restore peace and stability to Mosul after Isis has been routed from its Iraqi stronghold.

Anti-Isis resistance group plans to rise up in Mosul, say residents Read more

Abadi said all efforts were being made to create humanitarian corridors for civilians fleeing Iraq’s second largest city, where about 1.5 million people still live. In a statement, aid groups said the fate of civilians trapped in Mosul – at least 600,000 of them children – “hung in the balance”. “With the start of the offensive, families face an impossible decision,” said Oxfam, Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“If they stay inside Mosul, they risk being killed by heavy weapons and used as human shields by Isis, or being caught in crossfire, shot by snipers or stepping on landmines if they try to flee. Even if they reach safety, there is currently no guarantee that they will be able to get the shelter and the help they desperately need.”

Isis captured Mosul during a lightning advance across northern Iraq in 2014, and the terrorist group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the formation of a caliphate from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque. Mosul is the largest city controlled by the extremist group and its last big urban bastion in Iraq.



On Wednesday, Maj Gen Gary Volesky, the commander of the US 101st Airborne Division and the officer in charge of land forces involved in counter-Isis operations, said there were signs that Isis leaders in the city were starting to flee.

“We have seen movement out of Mosul,” he said, speaking to the Pentagon from Iraq. “We’ve got indications that leaders have left. A lot of foreign fighters we expect will stay as they’re not able to exfiltrate as easily as some of the local fighters or local leadership, so we expect there will be a fight.”

Iraq’s US-trained special forces are seen as far more capable than the mainstream security forces that crumbled as Isis advanced in 2014. They have played a central role in liberating several towns over the past year, including Ramadi and Falluja, in the western Anbar province.

More than 25,000 forces, including the Iraqi army, the peshmerga, Sunni tribal fighters and Shia militias are taking part in the Mosul offensive, which began on Monday after months of preparation. They will be advancing on the city from several directions.

Associated Press contributed to this report