MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in Russia and a number of other states.
"We see that they [Daesh] have hundreds of suicide bombers, they must have factories for production of explosives. This would create great danger during the assault. If everything goes well, I expect that it will be possible to liberate the city in three months at the latest," Barzani told the Bild tabloid in an interview published late on Thursday.
According to the official, the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters will not participate in the offensive in the city itself, as they are bound by an agreement with Baghdad and the international US-led coalition.
"However, if they were to ask us and there were a new agreement, we would of course help, we are ready for this."
According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation, backed by airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.
