Security of Mosul entrusted to Nineveh Guards: Iraqi VP

Deputy President of Iraq Osama al-Nujaifi has notified that the Nineveh Guards, a group dominated by Sunni members, will be assigned to provide security in Mosul.

Visiting a Nineveh Guards camp near Mosul, Nujaifi acknowledged the union's contributions to the liberation of Mosul from Daesh occupation.

"The Nineveh Guards will soon be assigned with the duty of maintaining security in the city," said Nujaifi, without giving any particular date for the assignment.

Earlier in January, Nujaifi, the former Mosul governor and commander of the Nineveh Guards, announced that at least 30 neighborhoods in eastern Mosul were put under the protection of the Nineveh Guards.

The Nineveh Guards, formerly known as National Mobilization Forces, is a Sunni group consisting of volunteers, mostly former veterans of the Iraqi army.

They have been trained by the Turkish forces in Bashiqa camp since 2014, at the Iraqi government's request.

Mosul, once considered Iraq's second largest city in terms of population, is currently the target of a wide-ranging military offensive, aimed at recapturing it from Daesh.

After almost 100 days of combat, Iraqi forces recaptured the eastern part of the city at the end of January. However, battle for control rages on in the western part of the city.

Some 1,600 civilians were killed and more wounded during the fighting to recapture the east end of the city.