BAGHDAD, March 24 (UPI) -- The Iraqi military launched a long-awaited operation Thursday to take back the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State.
The operation, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish Peshmerga troops and a Shiite-dominated paramilitary force, began at dawn on Thursday by taking back several villages on the outskirts of Makhmur, located east of Mosul. An Iraqi flag has been hoisted.