Hadi Jalu Mary provided several reasons behind this assertion.
"It is harder to push terrorists out of Mosul than out of Aleppo," the analyst said. "Syria has Bashar al-Assad who is in command of a single army and who receives help from Russia and self-defense forces. In Iraq, the military, Peshmerga and warplanes of the US-led international coalition are fighting against the militants. But these forces are divided; they don't have a single command and control center."
The situation in Iraq is further complicated by the fact that there are different radical groups in Aleppo, while Daesh presents a united front in Mosul, Hadi Jalu Mary added.
The operation to free Mosul was launched on October 16. Iraqi security forces, assisted by Kurdish fighters and the Popular Mobilization Units are said to have taken more than 360 villages under control and liberated an area exceeding 2,190 square miles.
The offensive in Iraq is taking place at the same time as the Syrian Arab Army and its allies are trying to retake rebel-held areas of Aleppo, one of the key cities in the country. Damascus-led forces have scored major victories in the last weeks, prompting many to say that the city will be fully liberated in the near future.
