Tough resistance from Islamic State slows Iraqi advance on Mosul

Iraqi Kurdish forces advancing toward the northern city of Mosul paused Tuesday on the second day of a long-awaited offensive after the Islamic State mounted tough resistance in villages east of the strategic city.

The Islamic State group forced the Iraqi Kurdish armies to slow their strikes Tuesday on the second day of attacks in the battle for Mosul.
Mosul is the last main city that ISIS controls in Iraq and fighting started Monday for the Iraqi Kurdish armies to reclaim the area.

However, ISIS reportedly pushed back hard for villages east of Mosul. According to its news agency, Amaq, ISIS carried out 12 suicide attacks out Monday.
Jabbar Yawar, a spokesman for Kurdish Peshmerga forces, said eight Kurdish soldiers were killed Monday and 16 were injured.
Still, Kurdish officials said they reclaimed 75 square miles of territory on Monday.
“These villages were small and simple, so we were expecting them to be easy,” said Brig. Gen. Haider al-Obaidi, an Iraqi special forces commander.

“Right now we are waiting for the peshmerga to finish their job,” said Obaidi. “We are waiting for them to reach the areas they were supposed to reach under the military plan, so that we can move.”
In preparation for the fighting, ISIS has also built concrete barricades and filled trenches with oil meant to be set ablaze.
Military experts have said it could take weeks or even months to capture Mosul.