Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)

The Battle of Mosul (Arabic: معركة الموصل, Ma'rakat al-Mawṣil) was a major battle initiated by Iraq and allied forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS), which had seized the city years prior in June 2014. It was the largest conventional land battle in the world since the capture of Baghdad in 2003. It was also the world's single largest military operation overall since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was considered the toughest urban battle since World War II.

The operation, which was called Operation "We Are Coming, Nineveh" (قادمون يا نينوى; Qadimun Ya Naynawa), began on 16 October 2016, with forces besieging ISIL-controlled areas in the Nineveh Governorate surrounding Mosul, and continued with Iraqi troops and Peshmerga fighters engaging ISIL on three fronts outside Mosul, going from village to village in the surrounding area in the largest deployment of Iraqi troops since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. At dawn on 1 November 2016, the liberation of Mosul city proper began. The first ones to engage ISIS within Mosul itself were the Iraqi Special Operations Forces who initiated their attack from the east of the city. Met with fierce fighting, the government advance into the city was slowed by elaborate defenses and by the presence of civilians, but the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared "full liberation of eastern side of Mosul" on 24 January 2017. Iraqi troops began their offensive to recapture western Mosul on 19 February 2017.

On 9 July 2017, the Iraqi Prime Minister arrived in Mosul to announce the victory over ISIL, and an official declaration of victory was proclaimed on 10 July. However, heavy clashes continued in a final pocket of ISIL resistance in the Old City, for almost another two weeks. It was estimated that removing the explosives from Mosul and repairing the city over the next five years would require $50 billion (2017 USD), while Mosul's Old City alone would cost about US$1 billion to repair.

The Battle of Mosul was concurrent with the Battle of Sirte (2016) in Libya and the Raqqa campaign (2016–17) conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIL's capital city and stronghold in Syria.

In 2017, John Spencer listed Mosul as one of the cities destroyed by violent combat, joining battles such as Stalingrad, Huế, Grozny, Aleppo and Raqqa. It has been referred to as a "modern day Verdun". During the battle, top coalition commander, Stephen J. Townsend, stated that it was "the most significant urban combat to take place since World War II".