PARIS (Sputnik) — The reports of the prepared offensive on Raqqa have surfaced after the beginning of an operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh. Mosul is the last large Daesh's stronghold in Iraq.
"It is obvious that after Mosul, there will need to be prepared a similar advance with similar outcomes in Raqqa," Ayrault said at a joint briefing with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari following a 20-country ministerial meeting on Mosul.
On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorist group.
According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the Mosul operation, backed by artillery and airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition against the terrorist group.
Daesh seized Mosul in 2014 and Raqqa in 2013 along with a number of other cities and towns in the two countries.
