MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Le Figaro newspaper, the operation, launched last week, goes in accordance with the initial plan, though, it could take weeks or months to liberate the city, as the militants are not going to give in.
"If they [jihadists] wanted to leave the area, they would have already done this," a Defense Ministry official said as quoted by the media outlet.
25 October 2016, 08:30 GMT
On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh, outlawed in Russia. 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.
