Mosul victory in 'days'

Iraq will declare victory over the Islamic State group in Mosul during the "next few days," a senior commander said yesterday, as pressure also mounts on the jihadists in Syria.

IS, which declared a cross-border "caliphate" encompassing swathes of Iraq and Syria three years ago, is now facing twin offensives in Mosul and Raqa, its two most emblematic strongholds.

But while the loss of the two cities would be a major blow to IS, it would not mark the end of the threat posed by the group, which is likely to return to insurgent-style attacks that were its hallmark in years past.

"In the next few days, we will announce the final victory over Daesh," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told AFP in Mosul, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

However, there has often been a gap between the declaration of victory and the actual end of fighting in a given area in the course of Iraq's multi-year war against IS.

Iraqi forces launched the gruelling battle for Mosul on October 17, advancing to the city and retaking its eastern side before setting their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west.

The jihadists are now confined to a small area of Mosul's Old City, but its narrow streets and the presence of civilians has made the operation to retake it perilous.

Meanwhile, the UN voiced alarm yesterday at rising threats against civilians in Mosul suspected of ties to the Islamic State group.

"As Mosul is increasingly liberated from ISIL, we are seeing an alarming rise in threats, specifically of forced evictions, against those suspected of being ISIL members or whose relatives are alleged to be involved with ISIL," said UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville, using another acronym for IS.

He said "hundreds of families have been threatened with forced displacement and such developments are extremely worrying."