Bahrain Mirror: Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari underlined on Tuesday (October 19, 2016), the importance of the ongoing battle to retake the strategic northern city of Mosul from ISIS, saying that the country is defending the entire world against terrorists.

At a press conference with EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, in Brussels, al-Jaafari said, "We are not only doing this to defend ourselves; we are doing this for all the countries of the world."

He also commented on the attacked launched on Monday to liberate Mosul, which fell as a stronghold of ISIS last June 2016. He indicated, "We humbly say that we are defending ourselves, the entire world, and we are defending democracy."

Tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters taking part in the operation to retake this city were making progress on Tuesday; the second day of the unprecedented huge attack.

The Iraqi forces backed by the anti-ISIS international alliance ought to pass the areas that ISIS controls around the city before they arrive.

The US President Barack Obama had warned on Tuesday that retaking Mosul would be a "difficult fight".

Moreover, al-Jaafari warned that ISIS is trying to use civilians as human shield in a bid to hamper the advance of Iraqi forces in Mosul. He added, "We need to make sure the civilians do not pay the price, we need to do our best to ensure the least possible losses and damage will occur."

The Iraqi Foreign Minister had discussed with Mogherini the EU's help to Iraq, in support of the latter's efforts to implement reforms.

Arabic Version