Alwaght- The Mosul operation that aims at full liberation of the northern Iraqi city from the grasp of ISIS terrorist group is considered as one of the most crucial and strategic operations launched in two years by a coalition of Iraqi forces against the terror organization in Iraq.
Due to the strategic importance of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, and the province’s sharing borders with the neighbouring Syria, taking back the city could have positive outcomes for the Iraqi domestic security conditions. Being home to 10 ethnic and religious minorities, the city of Mosul has high population diversity.
In mid-2016, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi put forward a plan to recapture the city from the hold of the terrorists. The plan was approved by the Iraqi Supreme Defense Council. However, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey interventions delayed launching the anti-terror Mosul operation. Two months ago, Washington went into a serious rift with Baghdad over the fate of nearly 10,000 ISIS terrorists in Mosul. The Americans pushed the Iraqi government to leave western gates of Mosul that end in Tal Afar city open for a smooth withdrawal of the terrorists from Mosul to the Syrian territories.
But the Public Mobilization Forces (PMF), a popular voluntary force, was willing to obliterate ISIS terrorists inside Mosul. As a result, Turkey took up the mission to use its forces in Bashiqa town in Mosul District to monitor an orderly transfer of ISIS fighters from Mosul to Syria.
Two years ago, Turkey deployed about 2,000 troops to Bashiqa to supervise ISIS' activities in Mosul.
Despite the rifts with the US and Turkey, Iraq launched the Mosul liberation operation, and the PMF forces, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, are now just two kilometres away from the city. By blocking way of ISIS in Mosul, the PMF forces have managed to foil the US plans for transferring the terrorists to Syria. This triggered huge news propaganda against the Iraqi voluntary forces by the Saudi Arabian and Qatar media, though this propaganda started since the beginning of the operation, with Saudi Arabia and its allies trying to fan sectarian tensions by claiming that PMF intended to repress the Sunnis of Mosul. The Iraqi PM al-Abadi ordered the PMF not to enter the center of Mosul.
In such a situation although taking Mosul back from the terrorists will help a sustainable security in Iraq and bring the Iraqi political sides in a closer cooperation, concentration on ISIS and its regional backers on Syria will further complicate the conditions in this war-torn country.
Meanwhile, with cleansing Mosul, the last remains of ISIS terrorists will be eliminated. This will guarantee security in northern and western Iraq. However, disputes between the central Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region’s government are expected to resurface over the future of Kirkuk following ISIS obliteration in Iraq. It seems that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces that are part of the Mosul operation have purposely pushed part of ISIS fighters towards Kirkuk to use the ISIS as a trump card in the future and add to their power for annexing Kirkuk to the Kurdish region.
On the other side, apparently some problems will follow recapture of Mosul, including trying some Iraqi officials who had hands in Mosul's fall to ISIS. One of them is Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Nineveh, who is hold responsible for the city fall. He is set to stand trial in the Iraq High Criminal Court for conspiring with ISIS and Turkey.
