“The plan to liberate Mosul has been drafted and we are putting the final touches on it,” Gen. Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Joint Operations Command said on Monday. 

He said the plan will be presented to Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to determine the exact date for the offensive.

“The Defense Ministry is currently finalizing the military build-up near Mosul,” Rasool said. 

In mid-2014, ISIL captured Mosul -- Iraq’s second largest city -- along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions. 

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army -- backed by a 60-nation coalition led by the U.S. -- retake much territory. Nevertheless, ISIL remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul. 

Iraqi troops and Kurdish peshmerga fighters have recently captured a number of areas on the outskirts of Mosul, which Iraqi officials have vowed to recapture by year’s end.