“We hope that ISIL will be defeated in a very short time,” Hadi told Sputnik, adding, “We hope to complete the operation quickly because ISIL militants’ morale is very low now.”
He added that the progress of the offensive was complicated by militants using civilians as a human shield.
“We are worried about the civilians’ lives, so we are acting with much care,” the diplomat pointed out.
The city of Mosul has been occupied by ISIL since 2014. The operation to retake it began on October 17, 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul’s Eastern part this January, but fighting continues in the city’s Western areas. The operation to liberate it started on February 19.
“Two years ago, ISIL governed 40 percent of Iraqi territory. Now, only 15 percent of the Mosul province is in its hands,” Hadi said at a Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency press conference.
