Meanwhile, US-backed Iraqi troops have launched a major attack on Mosul, the largest Sunni city in Iraq. Patrick Cockburn of the London Independent reports Mosul has been turned into a ghost town. He reports that soldiers are shooting at any civilian vehicle on the street that defies the city’s strict curfew. On Sunday, US troops shot dead two men, a woman and child after they failed to follow orders to stop. The Iraqi government claims the offensive in Mosul is needed to crush al-Qaeda in Iraq.