Via Telegraph:

Only hours after announcing a major new ground offensive to retake Iraq’s second city, the US was forced to admit on Friday it is unlikely to be able to train enough troops in time.

US Central Command initially told reporters in Washington it was preparing between 20,000 and 25,000 Iraqi troops for an offensive on Mosul to take place as early as April or May.

Revealing the details of the onslaught for the first time, a senior US military official said five Iraqi brigades would form the main attack force against the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) who currently occupy the city.

These would be accompanied by Iraqi counterterrorism troops, trained by US special operations and three smaller brigades of Iraqi reserve forces.

It also laid out plans for a “Mosul fighting force”, made up of local policemen and members of nearby tribes, who would stabilise the city once Isil was pushed out. The Kurdish Peshmerga would then protect Mosul’s northern and western flanks.