The ferment in Iraq, festering since the spring of 2003, has flared again with the Iraqi army’s offensive to recapture Mosul from the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, prompting the UN to advance a warning on Sunday that “many people are at extreme risk”, with fuel and food supplies dwindling and drinking water and electricity scarce.

There are an estimated 650,000 civilians trapped in the west of the city, whose eastern theatre was recaptured last October. “We are doing everything we can to reach and help people,” was the response of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande.

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“Mosul is an enormous operation. Each day, partners are trucking 2.3m litres of water to nearly half of all retaken neighbourhoods, supplementing municipal supplies.” The fact that the Iraqi army needed close to six months to formulate a strategy for the western sector is suggestive of the extent to which the Caliphate has entrenched itself in the city. It is an intricate strategy to formulate as the Euphrates river bisects the east and the west.

Mosul in Iraq and Aleppo in Syria are the two nerve-centres of ISIS penetration in the region. Whereas the Syrian forces are being assisted by Russian bombardment from the skies, the recapture of Mosul has been left largely to the devices of Iraq’s beleaguered forces, its war-like capability sorely tried since 2003.

Of course US airstrikes have lent support to the initial advance of the Iraqi troops, and reports from the battlefield suggest that “such hard fighting” has seldom been seen in Iraq.

The immediate target of the Iraqi troops is to gain control of Mosul airport, which they plan to use as a staging base for the main battle. More fierce clashes are expected when troops approach the urban centre, which is believed to have been fortified by the elite fighting units of ISIS.

Yet it would be presumptuous to imagine that ISIS has its back to the wall both in Iraq and Syria, though it could well be seeking a flank further afield, if the recent killings in Pakistan and Bangladesh are any indication, not to forget the outrages in Europe.

No less a matter of concern is the expected exodus of at least several hundred thousand people, indeed another bout of migration that is bound to challenge an already stretched aid network that has provided food, water and shelter for up to 217,000 refugees from eastern Mosul since 17 October.

With the pressure ramped up against the Caliphate, it may not be easy to repeat the terror strikes as witnessed in Baghdad, Brussels, Paris and Nice. But its fanatical fury has not ebbed; the ISIS remains a threat across the world. In the wider perspective, the recapture of Mosul could turn out to be a temporary setback.