DHAKA: Shia militias said they have launched an assault to the west of Mosul, opening up a new front in the battle to drive ISIL from the country’s second city and the group’s last major bastion in the country.

The coalition of militias, know as the Popular Mobilization Units, had not played a heavy part in the fighting, but the offensive on Saturday indicates a bigger role than many observers had anticipated, reports Aljazeera.

A spokesman for the coalition, Ahmed al-Asadi, told a news conference that seven hours into the operation 10 villages had been ‘liberated’ from ISIL.

“This corridor is considered the main artery of the ISIL terrorist organization between Mosul on one end and Raqqa in Syria on the other,” said Asadi.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Iraq, said although many towns and villages on the road to Mosul had been taken by the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, the city itself - and ISIL’s position there - remained as formidable as it was before the operation to take the city began 12 days ago.

“The idea behind this ... is that the western part of Mosul has been uncontested so far,” El Shayyal said.

“And that’s probably the most important frontier because it’s the one that leads to Syria.”

The militia forces leading the attack plan to cut off the route between Mosul and Syria and help besiege ISIL-held Mosul from all sides, he said.

Some had hoped the Popular Mobilization Units would not play a large role in the battle for Mosul, particularly as “Sunni Muslims view them to be just as criminal as ISIL,” El Shayyal said.

“That’s why in the beginning (of the offensive) it was stressed by (the government) that the operation would be lead by the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces," he said.

“Now that they have announced an entire frontier led by them, this will cause a lot of concern, especially as there are reports that they are targeting Sunni civilians.”

BDST: 0950 HRS, OCT 30, 2016
NJ/BD