U.S. General Praises Iraqi Forces Fighting in Mosul - Associated Press
A senior U.S. military commander on Sunday praised Iraqi forces fighting to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, saying they were "at their peak" and adjusting well to changing realities on the battlefield.
Brig. Gen. Rick Uribe told The Associated Press he agrees with the forecast given by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that it would take another three months to liberate Mosul, the last Iraqi urban center still in the hands of the extremist group.
"We are on pretty close to where we want to be," Uribe said, adding that military planners knew that while the initial push toward the city would be quick, progress would become "significantly" slower on the city's fringes.
Speaking in Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Uribe said Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul have made progress since a new advance was launched last week after a two-week lull in fighting.
A government campaign to liberate Mosul and surrounding areas in Nineveh province began in mid-October, but most of the major fighting inside the city has been done by Iraqi special forces, known as the Counter Terrorism Service…