"China supports the actions of Iraq to maintain the national stability and fight against terrorism. We hope Iraq could reach safety and stability in the country as soon as possible," Chunying stated, commenting on the start of the offensive to liberate Iraq's city of Mosul from the Daesh militants.
Mosul, the second biggest Iraqi city, as well as a number of other northern and western Iraqi cities and towns, was seized in 2014 during an offensive of Daesh, a jihadist group outlawed in Russia.
In the early hours of Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from the Daesh militants. According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation, backed by air strikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.
