Iraqi forces are ready for their next major campaign against Islamic State extremists after the tough nine-month battle to retake the city of Mosul, senior US military leaders have said.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the top US commander in Iraq, said he sees the Iraqi assault on the IS-held area of Tal Afar “unfolding relatively soon”.
The upcoming fight follows weeks of the Iraqis regrouping troops and repairing equipment and weapons after recapturing Mosul in July.ф
“I can’t say that we replaced every single damaged or broken vehicle or rifle or machine gun,” said Lt Gen Townsend, whose forces are aiding the Iraqi military.
But he insisted: “They’ll be ready enough.”
Tal Afar and the surrounding area is among the last pockets of IS-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in Mosul, the country’s second-largest city.
Tal Afar is west of Mosul and about 90 miles east of the Syrian border. It sits along a major road that was a key IS supply route.
Mosul took a heavy toll on Iraqi forces. As many as 1,400 troops were killed and more than 7,000 wounded, and the Iraqi military has proceeded methodically since its biggest success to date.
Just three years ago, its soldiers were chased by the Islamic State group from much of the battlefield.
“The last days of Mosul looked like Iwo Jima to me,” Lt Gen Townsend told a small group of reporters.
“In the end, it took bulldozers ploughing ISIS fighters under the rubble,” he recalled, using multiple different acronyms for the extremist group. Iraqi Infantry men advanced beside the bulldozers, shooting and throwing grenades at Daesh fighters popping up out of the rubble.”
Iraqi Humvees emerged shot up, their glass spider-webbed with bullet marks and shrapnel, their weapons worn out or even destroyed.
In the weeks since, much of the Iraqis’ equipment has been repaired or replaced, said General Joseph Votel, America’s top Middle East commander who spent the last few days in Iraq.
“I think they are ready,” he told reporters.
The key priority, he said, is ensuring the Iraqis maintain momentum and have a good battle plan, and that the US-led coalition is prepared to support them.
Gen Votel has met Iraqi military and political leaders in Baghdad and Kurdish Peshmerga leaders in Irbil, in northern Iraq.
He was ensuring US military advisory teams are with the right local units to provide the best support, intelligence gathering, surveillance and advice.
Iraqi military leaders said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has approved their combat plans.
The fight will involve a broad spectrum of forces, including the Iraqi Army, counterterrorism troops, police and a group of mainly Shiite, Iranian-backed militias.
It will start “in the next few days,” Iraqi Brigadier General Yahia Rasool told reporters.
He said officials believe there are between 1,400 and 1,600 IS militants in the Tal Afar area. Many are foreign fighters, he said.
Brig Gen Rasool said the various Iraqi forces already have largely encircled Tal Afar.
“I don’t think it will be tougher than the battle of Mosul, taking into consideration the experience we got in Mosul,” he said
Lt Gen Townsend said the fight for Tal Afar will be a “microcosm” of Mosul, with parts easier and others equally difficult.
“It’s smaller and there are fewer bad guys,” he said.