IRBIL, Iraq (AP) – Iraq’s state-sanctioned Shiite militias said Sunday that some 5,000 fighters have joined their push to encircle the country’s second-largest city of Mosul and cut off Islamic State fighters there, as bombers killed at least 17 people in residential Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad.
Karim al-Nuri of the umbrella group for the militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Units, and Jaafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for unit member the Hezbollah Brigades, said that a total of some 15,000 Shiite fighters were participating in the battle.
The Iraqi military confirmed the figures, which, including army units, militarized police, and special forces bring the total number of anti-IS fighters in the offensive to over 40,000.
Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city and the last major bastion of IS fighters in the country. The struggle to kick out the extremists has been long-anticipated since they stormed into the city in 2014, driving out a much larger Iraqi force, albeit one that was demoralized from neglect and corruption.
The involvement of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias has raised concerns that the battle for the Sunni-majority city could aggravate sectarian tensions. Rights groups have accused the militias of abuses against civilians in other Sunni areas retaken from IS, accusations the militia leaders deny.