MOSUL, Iraq, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- As Iraqi forces have massed in areas surrounding Mosul during the last several weeks and months, preparing for an invasion to retake the city from Islamic State, members of the militant group have been threatening to cut out the tongues of people using the word "liberation."
Sunday night the Iraqis launched a U.S.-backed offensive to take Mosul back from the Islamic State, which has held it for two years since the group declared itself a caliphate.