Iraqi Joint forces, launched an offensive on Monday (October 17) to drive so-called Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, IS and Daesh) from the northern city of Mosul, the terrorists' last stronghold in Iraq.
Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to take part in the offensive to drive an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 Islamic State militants from Mosul, a city of 1.5 million people.
In 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi proclaimed from Mosul Grand Mosque a "caliphate" in Iraq and neighboring Syria. If Mosul falls, Raqqa in Syria will be ISIS's last remaining stronghold.
12