This has been an impressive year for Iraqi Prime Minister al Maliki. Within the past two months, his Iraqi army defeated the Mahdi militia in Basra, then forced al-Sadr to capitulate in Baghdad. Today, al-Maliki continues to extend his influence in Iraq, by going to Mosul to supervise the offensive against Sunni insurgents. BBC:Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is in the northern city of Mosul to supervise an offensive against Sunni insurgents.
Mosul is seen as the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Elsewhere, a ceasefire between the government and Shia militiamen in the Sadr City area of Baghdad is reported to be generally holding.
However some skirmishes were still reported overnight in the area, with hospital officials saying five people had been killed.
In Mosul security officials said they had advanced from a preparatory stage in what is being called Operation Lion's Roar to a full-scale offensive against al-Qaeda fighters.
"The main aim of this operation is to purge and clean Nineveh province of all militants and their weapons and declare it a safe area," an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman told The Associated Press.
US military spokesman Maj Gen Kevin Bergner said US forces were providing air cover and intelligence support to the Iraqi troops in Mosul, who had arrested more than 500 people in the area.
(Photo credit: AFP/Ali Al-Saadi)
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Libertarian Leanings points out the victories in Basra and Baghdad were achieved by the Iraqi army, not the Americans.
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Related posts.
Major victory for al-Maliki and the Iraqi government: al-Sadr capitulates
From undisclosed location in Iran, al-Sadr announces a surrender... tells followers not to fight the Iraqi army
Report: al-Sadr's militia got hammered... 358 Mahdi fighters killed, 531 wounded, 343 captured
McClatchy's Leila Fadel announces al-Maliki lost Basra
