The representative further said that the terrorists suffered considerable losses when the coalition aircraft carried out bombing campaign on the positions of jihadists and destroyed a significant number of artillery belonging to Daesh.
“In the ranks of Daesh there is panic right now. The jihadi commanders ordered the execution of militants who refuse to participate in the battles. Meanwhile, over the past few days since the operation many Daesh commanders fled from Mosul to Syria with their families,” Mamuzini said.
The representative added that it is assumed that the Mosul operation will soon be expanded by opening new fronts, including in Ba`shiqah.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh militants.
According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation, backed by airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.
On Saturday, aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force dropped leaflets on Mosul to warn the residents of the upcoming offensive. The government called on the residents not to panic and stay at their homes.
Earlier, Iraqi artillery and warplanes of the US-led international coalition conducted strikes on Mosul. An Iraqi military source said that the shelling was aimed to destroy certain targets prior to the main offensive. The Iraqi military estimates that the liberation of Mosul would take one to two weeks.
Mosul, the second biggest Iraqi city, as well as a number of other northern and western Iraqi cities and towns, was seized in 2014 during an offensive of Daesh terrorists.
