Although the battle to oust Islamic State from Mosul is led by Iraqi military forces and Kurdish peshmerga auxiliaries, elite international forces are playing a major role in a fight that Baghdad and Washington consider pivotal in the defeat of the jihadi group.

In a statement on Monday morning, the American general in charge of the coalition’s war in Iraq and Syria, Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, openly acknowledged the presence of “forward air controllers” amongst the US “advisory” contributions to the battle.