Isis seized 2,300 armoured vehicles in Mosul alone, reveals Iraqi PM

Iraqi security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armoured vehicles to Isis when the jihadist group seized Mosul in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday (31 May).

"In the collapse of Mosul, we lost a lot of weapons," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqi state TV, reports AFP. "We lost 2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone."

It is unknown how much the vehicles cost in total, with their price depending on their armour and equipment.

Last year, the US State Department approved the sale of 1,000 Humvees with improved equipment, armour and weapons to replace those lost, at the cost of $579 million (£379, €530).

Mosul, Iraq's second city, is now Islamic State's centre of operations in Iraq.

It was seized in June, 2014, when Iraqi divisions charged with defending the city fled, leaving behind huge caches of weapons and equipment provided by the US, which the jihadist group has used in subsequent operations in Syria and Iraq.

Iraqi security forces seemed to be making progress rolling back Isis after taking back Tikrit, north of Baghdad, in April, but there was a major setback when Isis seized Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, weeks ago.

The fleeing Iraqi army left behind half a dozen tanks, a similar amount of artillery equipment, armoured personnel carriers and around 100 Humvees, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren revealed in May.