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Mosul Operation Involves Complex Military Coalition

by Catherine Maddux

   The massive military push to oust the so-called Islamic State from
   Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, involves Iraqis, Kurds, Americans
   and even members of the Iraq's Shi'ite community.

   A U.S. Army soldier stands with his weapon at a military base in the
   Makhmour area near Mosul during an operation to attack Islamic State
   militants in Mosul, Iraq, Oct. 18, 2016.

   U.S. military officials have warned the operation, which is likely to
   include street battles once Iraqi and Kurdish troops fight their way
   inside Mosul, is likely to take weeks.

   A young girl smiles at a refugee camp housing Iraqi families who fled
   fighting in Mosul on Oct. 18, 2016. 's Hasakeh province.

   The complexity of the fight became obvious after IS militants attacked
   Kirkuk, a city to the east of Mosul.

   And, of course, the fighting has prompted a frenzied rush of civilians,
   who are fleeing IS-controlled Mosul by the tens of thousands at great
   personal risk to U.N. camps in Syria.