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After declaring victory in the nine-month battle to oust the Islamic State group from Mosul the Iraqi security forces have a little bit of breathing room to concentrate on the rest of the country and get on with the campaign of eliminating ISIS in Iraq, the top Marine officer in Iraq said. Marine Corps Times talked toBrig. Gen. Robert G-Man Sofge recentlyabout what happens after Mosul and how U.S. forces helped Iraqi forces achieve their most important victory to date.Sofgeis currently thedirector of the Combined Joint Operations Center in Baghdad.

Excerpts of the interview, edited for clarity and space.

ISIS is in Tal Afar; ISIS remains in the western desert and certainly remains in the Hawija pocket north of Baghdad and south of Mosul. Where the Iraqis go on a campaign, I think, is to be determined at this point.

I cant talk to it off the cuff. They are a fine fighting force and they were very brave and took a significant number of casualties as did the federal police and so did the Iraqi army. All pieces of the Iraqi security forces were engaged in different parts of this battle. I cant speak specifically to the numbers.

I think all of the forces are understandably going to have to reset briefly after the tough fight in Mosul. I think what well see in the weeks ahead is that kind of behavior as they restock their ammo, take stock of where they are physically with manpower, repair their vehicles and replenish their fuel stocks for the next stop on the campaign.

Q: How are efforts to clear Mosul of mines and booby traps proceeding?

This kind of back-clearance will be slow and thorough. Its already started with the forces that are there, but the government of Iraq my understanding is going to bring more forces to bear to help with that clearance to make the city safe for the people of Mosul.

The idea that weve loosened the ROE in order to more aggressively fight the enemy is not an accurate statement. There have been a couple of unfortunate incidents, but zero civilian casualties is our goal each and every day. We havent loosened that up in any way, shape or form.

It was challenging to employ that amount of firepower in that small of a space. We dialed it back and kept dialing it back until eventually we werent using any aircraft to strike, only direct fire weapons. And then eventually direct fire weapons were, frankly, too powerful to fight in those closed quarters. It became those last, terrible yards for the Iraqi security forces to really go in by hand. Brutal fighting.

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After Mosul: What's next for the fight in Iraq - Marine Corps Times