UN envoy says Daesh will be routed soon in Iraq

Iraqi special forces troops pose with a national flag Iraqi flag as they hold a flag of the Islamic State militants they captured in Nineveh Hotel on the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, in this Jan. 19, 2017 file photo. (AP)

UNITED NATIONS: The UN envoy for Iraq says military operations to liberate Iraq from the Daesh extremist group will be coming to an end “in the rather short foreseeable future.”
Jan Kubis told the UN Security Council Thursday that “the days of the so-called ISIL are counted,” using one of the acronyms for the militant group.
He said progress and the government’s successful campaign to retake the eastern part of Mosul “should not conceal that fighting has been and will be a massive challenge, in particular inside the old city in western Mosul.”
Kubis said that after Daesh extremists are routed, Iraq will need “substantial and sustainable” international support and assistance.
He said that “any abrupt scaling-down of engagement or support would mean repeating mistakes of the past.”