Smoke rises in the background from burning oil wells as seen from the Qayyarah military base, about 60 km south of Mosul, on Sunday. Haider al-Abadi vows that only the Iraqi Army and police forces would enter Mosul. Operations to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State group have begun, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced early Monday on state television. Mr. al-Abadi vowed that only Army and police forces would enter Mosul. “The force leading liberation operations is the brave Iraqi Army with the national police and they are the ones that will enter Mosul, not others,” he said.

Source: The Hindu October 16, 2016 23:26 UTC