Iraqi Army Opens New Front Against ISIS in Southern Mosul

Following the announcement of the liberation of Fallujah, Iraq's Defense Minister stated that operations by the army and federal armed forces against the Islamic State group have begun in southern Mosul. Mosul is the main center of the self-proclaimed Islamic State militants in Iraq and the largest city in the northern part of the country. According to reports from AFP and Reuters citing Khalid al-Obeidi, the Iraqi Defense Minister, the new front signifies the start of new operations. Iraqi forces aim to take control of Qayyarah in southern Nineveh province, located 115 kilometers from Baiji and 60 kilometers south of Mosul. Qayyarah Airbase is set to serve as the primary base for operations against ISIS in Mosul. On June 19, al-Obeidi tweeted, "The start of operations to liberate Qayyarah will not give terrorists a chance to breathe." He also announced the commencement of operations on the same social media platform. A day earlier, Iraqi special forces entered the city center of Fallujah, which was under the control of the Islamic State group, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in the battle for the liberation of this city. Reports indicate that the United States requested the operations against the Islamic State to begin first in Mosul, not Fallujah. News agencies report that the Iraqi government preferred to first reclaim Fallujah, which is only 50 kilometers from Baghdad. Abadi has promised that the Islamic State will be expelled from all of Iraq by the end of the current calendar year, although operations by federal forces in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the center, have not progressed very rapidly so far. On the other hand, AFP reports, citing analysts, that ISIS militants may continue to maintain their capabilities for a while, but it seems their self-proclaimed caliphate is gradually collapsing. Patrick Martin, an Iraq analyst at the War Studies Department in Washington, stated, "Despite losing Fallujah, ISIS's propaganda machine will still attempt to recruit forces and encourage lone wolves to carry out attacks." Patrick Skinner from the Soufan Group in New York, which provides strategic and security services to governments, emphasized that the battles for Mosul and Raqqa (ISIS's main base in Syria) may be significantly different from previous conflicts, as losing these two cities would effectively mean the end of this group's imaginary caliphate. Concurrently with the start of operations in southern Mosul, reports from northern Syria indicate that the Syrian Democratic Forces have made further advances against the Islamic State and have approached the strategic city center of Manbij.