Over 50,000 Iraqi Gov't Fighters on Standby to Start Liberating Nineveh

More than 50,000 Iraqi government fighters are on a standby to start a military operation to liberate Nineveh province north of Iraq which has been under Daesh jihadist group occupation for the past two years, Nineveh Deputy Governor, Hasan Allaf told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Iraq and Syria have been plagued by Daesh since 2014. The terrorist group has seized large territories in both countries and declared the city of Mosul in Iraq as the capital of the Daesh caliphate. The terror group is outlawed in many countries around the world, including Russia and the United States.

"More than 50,000 fighters from various regular factions that include the police, the army, the joint forces in addition to the Golden Division [the Special Republican Guard] have united to liberate Nineveh province from the Islamic State's [Daesh] occupation" Allaf said.

He added that the General Command of the Armed forces has decided not to engage irregular forces from the tribesmen and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the battle to free Nineveh.

The deputy governor noted that all preparations to begin the military operation have been concluded and the fighters are waiting for midnight to launch their offense.