Mosul battle to be concluded before mid-May: Source
Iraqi troops raise the Iraqi flag on a liberated area in Mosul
The source indicated sufficient U.S. air cover to achieve the plan in light of the decreasing number of Islamic State militants to less than 800 members, most of whom are suicide bombers.
Regarding possibility of IS withdrawal, the source said it’s impossible adding that this would destroy the city and leave more casualties among civilians.
The plan supported by the international coalition, according to the source, states giving the militants a chance to get out to the desert in southwest of Mosul to besiege them there.
The group lost dozens of its foreign and local leaders since the start of western Mosul operations.
In January, Iraqi troops, backed by the coalition, retook eastern Mosul after an offensive was launched in October. A new offensive was launched in February to recapture the western side.
Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul is the militants’ last urban stronghold in the country.
Over four million persons were displaced inside the country since emergence of IS in 2014.
Iraqi troops currently control 4000 kilometers of the city, the U.S. State Department tweeted on Friday.