US General says anti-Daesh operation in Mosul may take two more months

He also predicts that the fight against Daesh will continue beyond Mosul to the Syrian border.

Iraqi forces advance on a Daesh-held village on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, Iraq December 7, 2016.
TRT World and Agencies

Iraqi forces advance on a Daesh-held village on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, Iraq December 7, 2016.

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, has warned that the operation to free Mosul from Daesh may take two more months.

Townsend, the commander of the US-led troops fighting to liberate the northern Iraqi city, says the terrorist group could launch an insurgency as it faces defeat.

"I think they are going to be working on Mosul for a number of weeks more, maybe a couple of months more probably. They have shown the ability to come back - al Qaeda in Iraq gave birth to ISIS, Daesh. What we have to do is we have got to play this differently so that ISIS doesn't give birth to the next extremist group that takes over Iraq."

Townsend also predicted that the fight would continue beyond Mosul, right up to Iraq's borders with Syria.

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