Defenses to east Mosul shifted by Islamic State

“The quality of the enemy we are facing now is markedly declined from a month ago… what they were saving for the west side of the river they are now committing to the east.” “What we thought was going to be the strongest defense, now they have already hedged their bets and bought it forward,” U.S. Brigadier General Scott Efflandt, a coalition deputy commanding general told Reuters. Mosul is the last Islamic State’s stronghold in Iraq and 100,000 Iraqi soldiers are partecipating in the assault that began on 17 october.