Kerry tight-lipped on strategy to fight Isis in Mosul as air strikes continue

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/01/us-john-kerry-strategy-fight-islamic-state-in-mosul

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Related: Up to 25,000 Iraqi troops preparing for attack on Islamic State in Mosul

As US-led coalition forces said they had launched seven air strikes on Islamic State (Isis) targets in Iraq and two in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday dampened talk of an imminent offensive against Isis in Mosul, Iraq.

Last week it was reported that the offensive to take back the city would use Iraqi forces and would launch in April or May. Such reports attracted criticism for giving away coalition plans.

“Contrary to what was in the newspaper ... we’re not going to advertise when that will happen.” Kerry said, during a wide-ranging interview with ABC News. “It will happen. But we’re not going to talk about the strategy, we’re not going to lay out the plans. The Iraqis are working hard to come up to speed, there’s a lot of effort being put into this.

“We will do it when the moment is right and we know we can move forward with the confidence that we want.”

When it was put to him that it was US Central Command that announced the planned offensive, Kerry said: “That has been contradicted and I think walked back – there are a number of different options out there so nobody should count on what they’re read or what they’ve seen. This will happen when we are ready, it will happen on the coalition’s schedule, it will happen when there is confidence it will be successful.”

“I’m not going to get into timetables,” he added. “It will happen.”

The US military said on Sunday that two air strikes involving US drones in Syria near al Hasakah had struck an Isis tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles. In Iraq, the coalition said it used warplanes and drones to strike near al Asad, al Qaim, Kirkuk and Mosul, destroying Isis tactical units, boats, a storage facility, buildings and other targets.

The strikes all took place between 8am on Saturday and 8am on Sunday local time, the statement said. Strikes began in Iraq on 8 August and in Syria on 23 September.

Related: Iraq bombs kill dozens in attacks north of Baghdad

The United Nations mission to Iraq, meanwhile, said violence killed at least 1,100 Iraqis in February, including more than 600 civilians.

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement that 611 civilians were among 1,103 people killed in the country last month, with the rest being from the security forces. It said at least 2,280 people were wounded, including 1,353 civilians. January’s death toll was at least 1,375.

The most violent city was the capital, Baghdad, with 329 civilians killed and 875 wounded, it said.

The UN numbers also offer minimal estimates for areas under the control of Isis, which holds a third of Iraq. UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov blamed the deaths on the extremist group, government forces and pro-government Shia militias.

“Daily terrorist attacks perpetrated by [Isis] continue to deliberately target all Iraqis,” Mladenov said in the statement. “There are also concerning reports of a number of revenge killings by armed groups in areas recently liberated from [Isis].”

He called on Iraq’s fractured leaders to reconcile, saying “an exclusively military solution to the problem of [Isis] is impossible”.

The statement came a day after series of attacks targeting public places and Shia militia checkpoints in and around the capital killed at least 37 people. The deadliest, near the city of Samarra, saw two suicide car bombers attack checkpoints manned by Shia militiamen, killing 16 Shia fighters and wounding 31.

Hours later, Isis claimed responsibility for the Samarra attacks in a statement posted on a Twitter account used by the militants.

Isis and other Sunni insurgents seized control of much of western and northern Iraq last year. According to UNAMI, 2014 was the deadliest in Iraq since the peak of the country’s sectarian conflict in 2006-2007, with a total of 12,282 people killed and 23,126 wounded.

Reports on Sunday also emerged of Isis freeing 19 of more than 200 Assyrian Christians whom they took captive last week.