驻伊拉克联军陆地行动指挥官呼吁伊拉克军队在摩苏尔之战中不要急于求成，给敌人可乘之机。
美国陆军少将加里·沃拉斯基星期三在巴格达通过电话会议告诉媒体说，“我不是让伊拉克部队不向摩苏尔推进，我是告诉他们，你们已经掌握了势头，要保持现有势头，继续向敌人施加压力， 敌人终将溃败。”
沃拉斯基将军说，他预计伊斯兰国武装分子在失去摩苏尔前一定会进行一场全面常规守卫战 ，然后他们会作为反叛力量，利用非常规手段向伊拉克军队和平民发动扰乱袭击。
美国通过情报，后勤，空袭，炮火和阿帕奇直升机为摩苏尔之战提供支援，不过沃拉斯基将军说，摩苏尔之战并非他的唯一重点。美国军人也被派往伊拉克其他地方，避免伊斯兰国组织试图把伊拉克政府的注意力引向伊拉克南部。
与此同时，国际慈善组织拯救儿童会说，在伊拉克与库尔德部队向占领摩苏尔的伊斯兰国武装分子发动进攻、重夺城市控制权之际，数以千计的人逃离摩苏尔地区。这个救援组织说，已有大约5000人在过去10天内抵达伊拉克和叙利亚边境地带的一个难民营。目前仍不断有难民涌入，因此该难民营恐怕将不堪负荷。
The general running the coalition's ground campaign in Iraq is urging Iraqi forces fighting for Mosul not to "go so fast that they start to give opportunity to the enemy."
"I'm not telling the Iraqis not to rush to Mosul. I'm telling them you've got the momentum, sustain the momentum, continue to put unrelenting pressure on the enemy and then the enemy is going to break," Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky told reporters via teleconference from Baghdad Wednesday.
The general said he expects Islamic State fighters to fight with a "full-fledged conventional defense in Mosul" until they lose the city. After that, he said, IS will turn into more of an insurgent force, using unconventional methods to make harassing attacks on Iraqis forces and civilians.
The U.S. has provided intelligence, logistics support, thousands of airstrikes, artillery fire and Apache helicopters to support the fight for Mosul. However, that fight is not the general's sole focus. Volesky said some of his American forces are intentionally in other areas of Iraq to prevent any potential Islamic State efforts to shift the Iraqi government's interest to the country's south.
Meanwhile, the international charity Save the Children says thousands of people have fled the Mosul area in order to escape the unfolding offensive by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to retake the city from Islamic State militants. The aid group said about 5,000 people have arrived in the past 10 days at a refugee camp over the border in Syria, which risks being overwhelmed as more people flee.
