"Over the first two weeks of the ground military operation in Mosul, 16 US servicemen were killed and another 27 were injured. Most instances of death and injuries of servicemen represent the result of hitting a landmine, or coming under artillery or mortar shillings," the source said.

There were also cases when servicemen died as a result of weak coordination of actions between aviation and Special Forces units. "For instance, two special forces members died in the airstrike delivered at Mosul’s outskirts by B-52H US aircraft," the source noted.

US Mobilization Units

He stressed that over the two weeks since the start of the military operation, the US-led coalition failed to achieve any considerable success in Mosul.

"Liberation of Mosul is considered by outgoing Democrats in the White House as a trump card in pre-election political games, where the victory of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is at stake. That’s why senators and influential politicians have to raise stakes and lobby decisions to step up military actions in Mosul, not taking into account big losses among US servicemen," the source concluded.

The ground military operation on liberating Mosul from ISIS was launched on October 17. Apart from Iraqi government forces, Kurdish forces and US-led international anti-terrorist coalition also participate in the operation. Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, has been controlled by ISISf or over two years.

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