Shabak fighters undergo training before the upcoming battle to recapture Mosul in Diyala province, Iraq September 19, 2016. Picture taken September 19, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer
Washington: Iraqi security forces will be ready by next month for an assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, the top general in the US military said Wednesday.
"We assess today that the Iraqis will have in early October all the forces marshaled, trained, fielded, equipped that are necessary for operations in Mosul," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joe Dunford said at a military event in Washington.
"Timing of that operation now is really just a function of a political decision by Prime Minister (Haider al-)Abadi."
