iStock/Thinkstock(MOSUL, Iraq) — Intense fighting is underway near Mosul as Iraqi and Kurdish forces continue to liberate more villages from ISIS in an operation expected to last months.
The 30,000 fighters are closing in on ISIS’s largest stronghold, with the help of airpower, artillery and ground troops from the U.S., but more than 1 million civilians remain under the terror group’s control in Mosul.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Sunday the mission was dangerous, but vital.
“Make no mistake, whether they’re flying airplanes overhead or whether they’re advising units on the ground, even behind the front lines they are at risk,” he said.
Carter said it was important for everyone to understand that the mission had to be done.
The Iraqi and Kurdish forces have faced fierce resistance from ISIS, which is why the operation will take months, a senior U.S. official told ABC News. The official added that Iraq would be broken for “50-100 years” with “tremendous problems every single day.”
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.