Mosul battle plans ready, could be concluded by year-end - Kurdish leader

Military plans to retake Mosul from Islamic State are ready and the northern Iraqi city might be recaptured before the end of the year, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Friday. The army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, will conduct the offensive but the role of pro-government militias has not been determined, Massoud Barzani said in an interview with France 24. "There have been multiple meetings between leaders of the Pes