Where is Mosul, when was the Iraqi city taken from Isis and how many people died in the battle?

THE Iraq city of Mosul was liberated from Isis control three years after the terrorist organisation forcefully took over.

In the summer of 2017 the Prime Minister arrived to declare “victory” and the city’s liberation from Isis – but what happened in the battle to regain control?

Where is Mosul?

Formerly booming Mosul is the main industrial city in northern Iraq and a vital hub in the flow of goods to and from Turkey and Syria.

Its relative wealth and strategic significance grew after oil fields were discovered nearby in the 1920s and a major oil pipeline was built into Turkey.

Located on the River Tigris, on the opposite bank from Biblical Nineveh, Iraq’s second largest city had a population of more than two million before Isis took over in 2014.

Its population always had a diverse mix of the diverse ethnic groups and, although most of the Jews were forced to leave in the 1950s, at the start of the 21st century the majority Arab Sunnis rubbed shoulders with Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrian Christians and Yazidis.

How did Isis take control of Mosul?

Isis unexpectedly seized control of Mosul in a matter of days in June 2014 after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts and fled.

They left behind huge caches of US-made military equipment and supplies which they used to storm across hundreds of miles of Iraq and neared the capital Baghdad before being pushed back.

Isis also plundered an estimated $500 million in cash and gold from the Central Bank of Mosul – which it has used to fund its military and terror operations across the Middle East.

The fanatics also imposed a brutal regime of torture and executions on the population, enforced by religious police who have banned music, phones and the internet.

Non-Muslims were ordered to convert or leave and hundreds of thousands of people fled to refugee camps elsewhere in Iraq.

Why was it so important to retake Mosul?

The fall of Mosul was a huge blow to Iraq’s political stability and a propaganda coup for the terror group as it emerged from relative obscurity into a global threat.

Since then Isis has been hit hard by counter attacks and has lost several key cities including Fallujah and Ramadi.

The offensive on Mosul has forced Isis out of its last strategic stronghold in the region it has dominated for over three years.

Some analysts said it would spell the end for Isis in Iraq altogether and the group would effectively be confined to Syria – where they are also under pressure and losing territory.

How long did battle last and when was Mosul retaken?

In January 2017 the Iraqi forces said it was preparing to retake western Mosul.

It followed an offensive which recaptured nearly all of the city’s east.

The Qayyarah airbase, 40 miles south of Mosul was retaken in early July and since then it has been refurbished to allow cargo planes to land bringing ammunition, fuel and rations directly to the front line.

Concrete walls and temporary barracks were erected to house the tens of thousands of soldiers taking part in the offensive.

Kurdish peshmerga forces, who held the line against Isis in North East Iraq, launched co-ordinated attacks.

Forces then encircled the city to begin a multi-pronged advance through the outskirts of Mosul.

On July 9, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi arrived to congratulate regime forces on their efforts in recapturing the city.

What happened to the people left in Mosul during the fighting?

As many as 700,000 people were believed to be trapped in the city last October, and not all were able to escape during the battle.

Some people managed to get out, but many were forced to stay or pay huge sums of money through traffickers.

Bruno Geddo, the UN refugee agency’s Iraq representative, said the Mosul offensive could trigger “one of the largest man-made displacement crises of recent times.”

More than 65,000 civilians have fled the front line in the past two weeks as Isis battered ­advancing Iraqi troops with mortars.

How many people died during the fighting?

Thousands were feared to have died as casualties of the fighting to recapture Mosul.

More than 40,000 civilians were reported to have been killed from fighting on the ground, as well as air strikes and Isis fighters.