As the battle for Mosul rages on, now in its third week, progress is being made on the battlefield but, as expected, at a slow pace.

Daesh, which has been controlling this second largest city in Iraq since 2014, is resorting to all sorts of diabolic tactics to slow down the onslaught on the metropolis, including roadside mines, booby-trapped cars and, typical to urban warfare, sniper fire.

The number of Iraqis fleeing the city, whenever they can, is growing, with most of whom not knowing where to go.

But then, there had been warnings about such an outcome; the UN refugee agency warned that the refugee crisis following the battle of Mosul could be reaching catastrophic proportions.

Daesh’s leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, called on the people to stay put in the face of the Iraqi army advances, in a desperate bid to check Baghdad and its allies’ military progress.

Baghdadi is even calling on families to allow their boys as young as nine to join the battle.

And, again as expected, the population of the city is used as human shields.

So far, the worst predictions before the battle are coming true in the battle for Mosul that will, no doubt, end in a victory against the terrorist group.

But at what cost?

Pundits of all sorts predict that while Daesh will lose territory in Iraq, and even in Syria, it will regroup in other parts of the world or, at least, activate splinter cells and followers to spread terror in the dozen or so countries they are ensconced in now.

In Iraq, the fear is that in the immediate aftermath of the battle, sectarian warfare — between Shiites and Sunnis — will be rekindled, making peace a remote possibility.

Moreover, freeing Mosul will not end the bigger war in Iraq, where ideologically, many downtrodden Sunnis will stay loyal to Daesh.

That is a wider problem that has to be seriously addressed by the government in Iraq.

Unless citizens of all denominations are treated fairly, the battle lines in this country will not be erased and the danger of a flair up will stay alive.