Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy fire with IS
militants early on Monday as they advanced from two directions on a
town held by the Islamic State group east of the city of
Mosul.
The early morning offensive to reclaim the town of Bashiqa is
part of the broader push to drive IS out of Mosul, Iraq's
second-largest city and the militants' last major urban stronghold
in the country.
Bashiqa, which is believed to be largely deserted except for
dozens of IS fighters, is about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northeast
of the edge of Mosul and about 20 kilometers from the city
center.
Iraqi special forces entered Mosul last week and have made some
progress in gaining a foothold on the city's eastern edges. But
progress inside the city has been slowed as troops push into more
densely populated areas.
Iraq's special forces are suffering casualties as militant bog
them down with suicide car bombs, booby traps and close-quarters
fighting along narrow streets.
IS still holds territory to the north, south and west of
Mosul.
Iraqi government and Kurdish forces, backed by a U.S.-led
coalition and joined by government-sanctioned militias, are
fighting to drive IS out of those surrounding areas and open
additional fronts to attack Mosul itself.
Bashiqa has been surrounded by Kurdish forces, known as
peshmerga, for weeks but Monday's push appears to be the most
serious yet to drive IS from the town.
Kurdish forces launched mortar rounds and fired heavy artillery
into the town on Sunday in advance of the offensive. More artillery
and air strikes hit the town early Monday as the Kurdish forces'
advance got underway.
The U.S. special envoy to the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk,
said late on Sunday that the three-week offensive against the
extremists in Mosul is proceeding "ahead of schedule."
Speaking to reporters in Jordan, McGurk said the fight to
degrade the group and break up its self-declared caliphate in Syria
and Iraq was expected to take about three years.