IRBIL, Iraq — A senior US military commander on Sunday praised Iraqi forces fighting to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, saying they were ‘‘at their peak’’ and adjusting well to changing realities on the battlefield.
Marine Brigadier General Rick Uribe said he agrees with the forecast given by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq that it would take another three months to liberate Mosul, the last Iraqi urban center still in the hands of the extremist group.
We are “pretty close to where we want to be,’’ Uribe said, adding that military planners knew that while the initial push toward the city would be quick, progress would become ‘‘significantly’’ slower on the city’s fringes.
Speaking in Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Uribe said Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul have made progress since a new advance was launched last week after a two-week lull in fighting.
A government campaign to liberate Mosul and surrounding areas in Nineveh province began in mid-October, but most of the major fighting inside the city has been done by Iraqi special forces, known as the Counter Terrorism Service.
Since the new offensive began, the special forces have pushed forward in at least two neighborhoods in the city’s eastern sector, while the army’s Ninth and 16th Divisions also made headway south and north of the capital, respectively.
The Ninth Division was joined by units of the militarized Federal Police, while the 16th was bolstered by other army units.
In a separate development Sunday, Iraqi officials said a pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing nine people, including four members of the security forces.
The police and hospital officials said the attack near the holy Shi’ite city of Najaf also wounded 22. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Uribe said the Iraqi forces at Mosul are ‘‘at their peak,’’ and ‘‘will continue to improve because of the lessons they are learning on a daily basis.’’
He said Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led coalition, would face a different fight when they cross to the west bank of the Tigris River, saying it will mostly be a ‘‘dismounted’’ battle fought in part on narrow streets, some of which were not wide enough for a vehicle to pass.
‘‘It will be a different fight and they will adjust as they go from the east to the west. They are already planning these adjustments,’’ he said.
He went on to praise Iraqi efforts to avoid harming civilians.
Iraqi authorities have advised civilians still inside Mosul to stay in their homes until the city is fully liberated.
