OSINT SUMMARY
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga Forces have launched fresh raids in bid to retake Mosul, ISIL’s de facto capital in Iraq.
Peshmerga Forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, managed to retake 11 key villages en route to Gwer, the main target of the operation. Gwer lies about 40 kilometers from Mosul.
Forces continue to advance in Iraqi’s second largest city with an estimated one million people.
The battle of Mosul has left at least 100,000 people displaced but according to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the battle will continue until Mosul is completed recaptured. According to al-Abadi, its fall will mark the effective defeat of ISIL in Iraq.
