Iraqi,Kurdish forces retake a dozen villages outside Mosul from IS

Iraqi and Kurdish forces say they have retaken a dozen villages outside Mosul, as they press to reclaim Iraq’s second largest city from Islamic State militants. The offensive, backed by airstrikes from a US-led coalition, and involving Sunni tribal forces and Shi'ite militias, continued on its second day yesterday. 

Fighting remains on the outskirts of Mosul, and the advances on the three fronts are moving at different paces. Iraq and peshmerga forces yesterday entered the town of Al Hamdaniya. On Monday, Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani



said that the coalition freed 200 square kilometers, including nine villages. 

US President Barack Obama, speaking in Washington, said Mosul will be a difficult fight but expressed confidence that IS will be defeated. He also warned of significant displacement but said the United Nations and other aid groups were ready for such eventuality. United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said an estimated 200,000 people are expected to be displaced in the first weeks of the offensive, growing to as many as one million under a worst-case scenario.