Mosul: The prestige of the Iraqi Army is at stake

ITV News Senior International Correspondent John Irvine reports from the frontline in Iraq as Peshmerga forces begin to liberate Mosul from the so-called Islamic State.

The first phase in the battle to reclaim Mosul has begun, two years after the so-called Islamic State (IS) rampaged through to the Iraqi city calling it their own in 2014.

That June, IS declared war on the world. It has taken a while, but the international coalition is now ready to face the final titanic battle.

On Monday, the first of several villages that form a defensive ring around the city fell to Peshmerga forces.

The villages were once home to a small Christian population, but those residents fled when IS surged towards the city in 2014.

They are now occupied by a few IS fighters.

There is a certain poetic justice for the Peshmerga forces to claim the first victory in the opening phase of the battle to reclaim Mosul.

They have been fiercely holding the line against the spread of IS along a 600-mile border by themselves, although they were greatly assisted by airstrikes conducted by the coalition.

They are now expecting a tremendous battle - with all ground forces putting aside mutual antagonism to help flush IS out of the city.

But despite starting the fight, they will not end it in Mosul as the battle has a certain political choreography.

The Kurdish Peshmerga forces who are Shiite will not enter the Sunni city of Mosul. It would be counterproductive, as the city's population would fear the potential sectarian violence that could follow.

Instead it will be up to the Iraqi forces to enter the city's gates.

There is a genuine concern of how the local population can escape the battle - or rather, how they can survive without leaving.

Escaping the clutches of IS is punishable by death, and families of those who leave have been persecuted.

Last week the terror group held a mock drill and claimed the city was under attack. Communication networks are down in the city, so it was difficult for residents to verify their accounts.

It was a cruel way to see how many people would rise up or flee.

Over the weekend, IS executed the last of the 72 people they alleged to have plotted against them.

They were burned to death.

Their brutal executions provided a terrible reminder of what the coalition are fighting against.

The 300 Peshmerga forces I am with are concerned about IEDs and booby traps left along the route by retreating IS fighters, but ever since the invasion in 2003 they have become adapt at finding explosives.

They have demining vehicles and reinforced tanks to help their cause, and will create a safe corridor - along the south west of the city - to help IS fighters flee into Syria.

It will be the first major battle as a nation state and the prestige of the Iraqi army is at stake.

It was this army that downed its weapons and fled the city spectacularly in June 2014, despite outnumbering IS forces ten fold.

But they're back.

They see the battle for Mosul as a truly historic event, and hope it will be the beginning of the end of the attempted caliphate in Iraq.

A senior military official for the Iraqi Army told me that Mosul will be liberated by Christmas.

It is a sign of confidence, but also of their fears.