Pentagon Says 'Premature' To Predict Mosul Offensive

The Defense Department said Friday it is "incredibly premature" predict when an offensive in Mosul would be carried out against ISIL. 



After local and regional forces, including U.S. airstrikes, were able to force ISIL out of the northern Syrian town of Kobani last week, rumors began to circulate that Kurdish forces would launch an offensive against the terror group's hold on the Iraqi city of Mosul. 



Some Kurdish have complained about the inadequacy of U.S-led coalition forces in the fight against the terror group and suggested that a Mosul offensive was at least months away.



Pentagon press secretary John Kirby responded by saying a timeframe is not predictable. 



"I think it's incredibly premature and probably not helpful for anybody to try to guess on the calendar when a campaign against Mosul is going to begin, proceed, or succeed," he said. "We aren't there yet. There's a lot of work that has to be done," he said, adding that the U.S. would not go faster than Iraqis are able or willing to go.



ISIL militants conducted a surprise overnight attack Thursday on a pershmerga police station in Kerkur, the city of the Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as several car bomb attacks in Baghdad. 



The attacks considered to be revenge for Kobani.



"It didn't come as a surprise or shock to anybody here at the Pentagon," Kirby said regarding the attacks, noting that ISIL has the capability to launch offensives in several other places. 



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