Yazidi woman escapes from Mosul, as the second phase of offensive begins

Record ID: 162779

  • Title: Yazidi woman escapes from Mosul, as the second phase of offensive begins
  • Date: 30th December 2016
  • Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 30, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STREETS IN QUDS NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MOSUL, SEEN FROM A HUMVEE WINDOW IRAQI ARMY'S COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS) VEHICLES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD SOLDIERS DISEMBARKING FROM HUMVEES COMMANDERS OF THE CTS, LIEUTENANT GENERAL ABDELGHANI AL ASSADI, AND MAJOR GENERAL MAAN SAADI, ENTERING A HOME UNNAMED YAZIDI WOMAN WHO ESCAPED FROM ISLAMIC STATE IN MOSUL SEATED WITH VEIL COVERING HER FACE NEXT TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, ABDELGHANI AL-ASSADI YAZIDI WOMAN SEATED WOMAN'S HANDS INTERVIEWER SAYING (Arabic): "Are they leaving?" WOMAN SAYING (Arabic): "They want to escape from Mosul." INTERVIEWER SAYING (Arabic): "The man you were with, what happened to him? Was he killed? Did he escape?" WOMAN SAYING (Arabic): "No he wasn't killed, he escaped, I don't know where to." INTERVIEWER SAYING (Arabic): "So he left you and escaped?" WOMAN SAYING (Arabic): "Yes, I was staying with his parents and he escaped, I don't know where to." YAZIDI WOMAN WOMAN'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNNAMED YAZIDI WOMAN, SAYING: "I escaped with some families at night, around 3 a.m." INTERVIEWER SAYING (Arabic): "so when the counter-terrorism service came into quds, you were able to leave?" "Yes." VARIOUS OF COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE OFFICIALS AT SCENE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMANDER OF THE CTS, MAJOR GENERAL MAAN SAADI, SAYING: "Our sister, the Yazidi woman, whom you've seen and filmed here, fled with a family one day before the attack on the Quds neighbourhood. We took her in with open arms, and were able to get some information from her about the neighbourhood, and this information proved useful during our attack and advance on the Quds neighbourhood. Our Yazidi sister along with the other Yazidi women who were kidnapped and taken as slaves by Daesh (Islamic State) since 2014, suffered inhumane treatment, they showed her brutality and treated her in a way that is neither humane nor reflects women's rights." VARIOUS OF THE YAZIDI WOMAN
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2017 19:11
  • Keywords: Iraq Mosul Quds neighbourhood Yazidi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) Islamic State
  • Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015F2TAH3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Yazidi woman who recently fled from the clutches of Islamic State militants provided an Iraqi elite army unit with information that helped their advance in the Quds neighbourhood of Mosul, an official said on Friday (December 30).
    The 42-year-old woman, who chose to remain anonymous, was kidnapped by the militants from her hometown of Sinjar in 2014. She was taken as a slave by a member of the group, and shuffled from one neighbourhood of Mosul to another.
    As the Iraqi army advanced into the eastern districts of Mosul, her captor fled the city, leaving her behind with his parents.
    She was finally able to escape when the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) advanced into the Quds neighbourhood, where she had been held.
    "I escaped with some families at night, around 3 a.m.," she said in a faint voice with a veil covering her face.
    Major General Maan Saadi of the CTS forces said the woman provided them with information which helped their operation in the area.
    "We took her in with open arms, and were able to get some information from her about the neighbourhood, and this information proved useful during our attack and advance on the Quds neighbourhood," he said.
    Iraqi forces began the second phase of their offensive against Islamic State in Mosul, pushing from three directions into eastern districts where the battle has been deadlocked for nearly a month.
    U.S.-backed forces have retaken a quarter of the city since the offensive began in mid-October.
    More than 5,000 soldiers and federal police troops, redeployed from Mosul's southern outskirts, entered half a dozen southeastern districts, while counter-terrorism forces advanced in al-Quds and Karama districts after reinforcements arrived.
    State TV said Islamic State defences were collapsing in the areas of Salam, Intisar, Wahda, Palestine and al-Quds and that fighters' bodies filled the streets there. A military statement later said forces had raised the Iraqi flag in al-Quds.
    The government's accounts are difficult to confirm as the authorities have increasingly restricted foreign media's access to the battle fronts and areas retaken from Islamic State in and around Mosul. They have given no reason.
    Iraqi forces have taken around half of the eastern side of Mosul, but have yet to enter the western side.
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