"More than 9,000 Daesh militants will be redeployed from Mosul to the eastern regions of Syria to carry out a major offensive operation, which involves capturing Dayr al-Zawr and Palmyra,” an unnamed diplomatic source told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday; Press TV reported.
The source noted that Washington seeks to "counter Russia’s achievements in Syria" and "diminish their importance" by relocating the Takfiris from the Iraqi city to eastern Syria.
"Apart from the purely political dividends, the other purpose of this operation, obviously, will be to discredit the success of the Russian Air Force. And, of course, it’s an attempt to undermine Syrian President (Bashar) al-Assad,” he added.
The source also said that Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Directorate will act as a mediator and guarantor for the terrorist’s safe passage.
Baghdad has not announced a specific date for the beginning of the operation to liberate the city, but he source said that the go-ahead for the operation had already been sanctioned for October by US President Barack Obama, and that during the operations US-led coalition warplanes would only target uninhabited areas.
The Iraqi army is gearing up for a major offensive to purge Daesh from Mosul. Iraqi forces have managed to wrest control of several areas from terrorists in the southern parts of the city.
Mosul fell into the hands of the Takfiri terrorists in June 2014, when they launched an offensive in Iraq.
He also noted that the so-called US-led coalition carried out a similar plan during the Iraqi army's liberation of Fallujah in June.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive there more than two years ago. The militants have been committing crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians. The Iraqi army and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have been engaged in joint operations to retake militant-held regions.
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