Iraqi army prepares to assault Islamic State forces in Mosul

GWER , Iraq, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government is preparing its military forces for an assault on Mosul, which was taken by Islamic State militants during the group's blitz into Iraq from Syria last summer.

With the U.S.-led coalition supporting it with airstrikes, the Iraqi military is expected to move on the city in coming days, Al Jazeera reports.

Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul fell in June 2014 during a rapid assault into the country's northwest by IS forces, which pushed in as Iraqi troops shed uniforms and retreated.

Since then, Peshmerga fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan were forced to hold the eastward IS advance as a U.S.-led coalition of Western nations formed in opposition to the group, committing to a bombing campaign called Operation Inherent Resolve.

In August 2014, IS took control of the strategic Mosul Dam, which powered the city of Mosul and surrounding areas. Peshmerga were able to take it back later in the month.

The Iraqi army, along with allied Sunni tribal fighters, has since clashed with IS forces across the north and central portions of the country with varying degrees of success and failure. Nearly a dozen Iraqi soldiers and allied Sunni tribesmen were killed last week fighting IS north of Baghdad and around Fallujah.

According to Al Jazeera, Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi and Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi have been in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, to garner support from Kurdish forces for the upcoming Mosul offensive. Both men are from Mosul.

For its part, Kurdish Peshmerga suffered 23 killed Saturday in fighting with the IS in northern Iraq near the Sinjar Mountains and in towns west of Erbil. The Kurds had in December 2014 captured large swaths of the town of Sinjar from IS forces and broke the group's siege of Mount Sinjar, freeing hundreds of trapped Yazidis who had fled earlier IS advances.

IS last week announced plans to open a bank in Mosul that would issue loans, accept deposits and replace obsolete paper currency. The group also released a video of hostage and British photojournalist John Cantlie, who gave a tour of the city, saying "life here in Mosul is business as usual."