Skip to content
The War AtlasThe · War · Atlas

BATTLE // October 16, 2016

Battle of Mosul

LOADING MAP TELEMETRY…

Overview

The Battle of Mosul 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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Forces & casualties

Troop strength

  • Iraq108,500–114,000
    medium
  • Islamic State6,000–12,000
    medium

Iraq fielded a 12.4 : 1 numerical advantage

Casualties

  • Iraq1,200–1,400
    medium1% loss rate
  • Islamic State7,757–10,859
    medium103% loss rate

Commanders (12)

Compare with sibling battle

6 options

Pick a battle to compare side-by-side

Related

6 sibling battles · 3 factions

Last verified June 2026
Cite this page →Suggest a correction →