By Stephen Kalin and Ahmed Rasheed AL-SHURA, Iraq/BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Shi'ite militias said on Saturday they had launched an offensive towards the west of Mosul, an operation that would tighten the noose around Islamic State's Iraq stronghold but could inflame sectarian tension in the mainly Sunni region. The battle for Mosul is expected to be the biggest in the 13 years of turmoil unleashed in Iraq by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled former president Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, and brought Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslims to power. A spokesman for the Shi'ite militias, known as the Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) forces, said thousands of fighters "started operations this morning to clean up the hotbeds of Daesh (Islamic State) in the western parts of Mosul".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shiite-militias-launch-offensive-seal-off-western-mosul-111103586.html

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