Plans are in place for the 25,000-strong Iraqi army to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the hands of the ISIS.

A senior US official said, the major offensive may happen in April or May, in what they call Iraq's biggest attack against the Islamic state. 

"We are now planning an offensive on Mosul in the coming few months," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said. "We have to prepare for it carefully, because the only choice we have in Mosul (is to win). We have to win in Mosul to keep (ISIS) out."

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The assault team will include five Iraqi Army brigades, three Peshmerga brigades, and former Mosul police forces.  Their plan may include strategically placing US forward air controllers in Iraq to assist in calling for airstrikes, as Iraqi and Peshmerga troops assault the ISIS on the ground.

The White House has stopped sending ground forces in Iraq.  But Pentagon said it might put up small teams that would join Iraqi forces and coordinate air strikes if necessary.

For months, Mosul had been a symbol of a weak Iraqi military.  Hundreds of policemen and members  of the Iraq's national army dropped their weapons and ran, as the ISIS invaded Mosul in June. Now they say, they are ready to come back and face the enemy.

Iraqi troops have been receiving training from the U.S. and its allies to make it more effective in fighting the Islamic state. 

Currently, more than 3,000 Iraqi army forces are participating in the US-run training centers in Iraq, adding up on the 2,000 who have already been trained.  While the U.S. works on making sure Iraqi troops are equipped for the battle, the Iraqi government funds the training. 

Pushing the ISIS out from the city of Mosul will be a hard task for the Iraqi forces, as ISIS fighters have already immersed into the densely populated city.  Airstrikes could be more destructive than helpful, as it could endanger the lives of innocent civilians still trapped in Mosul.  Strong ground forces could be the only thing Iraq can rely on.

The ISIS took control of Mosul in June 2014, with an estimated 1,300 armed militants seizing government offices, army facilities and airports.  Some 500,000 Mosul residents were believed to have fled the city.

TagsMosul, ISIS, Iraq