(VOVworld) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejected an offer by the Turkish government to participate in the current campaign to liberate Mosul, the last bastion of the Islamic State in Iraq.

Displaced Iraqi families arrive near a checkpoint east of Mosul as they flee areas of unrest on Saturday. (Photo: Getty Images)

In a meeting with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in Baghdad on Saturday, Abadi thanked for the offer but said the Mosul battle is an Iraqi battle and the ones who are conducting it are Iraqis. He added that Iraqi forces are the core in the battle to retake Mosul and are able to do that without Turkish assistance.

On Saturday, Iraqi forces expelled IS fighters from the two important districts of Hamdaniyah and Qaraqosh and a number of other districts near Mosul. The Mosul offensive, which began on Monday, has been the biggest campaign in Iraq since 2003.