ANKARA (Sputnik) – According to the diplomatic sources, the offensive is expected to start in several days, the Anadolu news agency said. Militia from Mosul, trained in Turkish Bashiqa military base in the northern Iraq, will take part in the operation, it added.
On Wednesday, a military-diplomatic source in Moscow told RIA Novosti that the US and Saudi intelligence services agreed to provide Daesh militants with safe passage to exit Mosul ahead of the assault planned by the international coalition. According to the source, the US-Saudi plan also envisages transportation of over 9,000 militants from Mosul to the eastern Syria for an offensive against the Syrian government forces in control of Palmyra and Deir ez-Zur.
Mosul has been under control of Daesh since 2014, and remains their main stronghold. The US-led coalition of more than 60 nations has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Iraq since then.
