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Kurds push for delay of Mosul attack

Some in Congress share concerns that Sunnis aren't ready to take on the Islamic State.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters keep watch during the battle with Islamic State militants on the outskirts of Mosul January 21, 2015. Kurdish forces in northern Iraq said on Wednesday they had cleared Islamic State insurgents from nearly 500 square kilometres of territory and broken a key IS supply line between the city of Mosul and strongholds to the west near Syria. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR4MDFF

A vital ally in the war against the Islamic State (IS) is making it increasingly clear that it wants the United States to call off its planned spring offensive.

The Iraqi Kurds were "surprised" by last week's US Central Command announcement that an attack on Mosul could take place in April or May, their new representative to the United States told reporters on Feb. 26. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman cautioned that the Iraqi army wouldn't be ready and that Sunni tribes weren't united in how to deal with the aftermath if Iraqi forces do manage to take back Iraq's second largest city.

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