Fearing Islamic State retaliation, Iraqis flee recaptured areas in eastern Mosul

Record ID: 163581

  • Title: Fearing Islamic State retaliation, Iraqis flee recaptured areas in eastern Mosul
  • Date: 9th January 2017
  • Summary: MUTHANNA DISTRICT, EASTERN MOSUL, IRAQ (JANUARY 9, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING A DAMAGED BRIDGE OVER THE KHOSR RIVER PEOPLE JUMPING OVER BARRICADE ON THE BRIDGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING NEAR THE BRIDGE / DAMAGED BRIDGE MAN CLIMBING A LADDER PLACED ON THE BRIDGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING DOWN BANK NEAR THE BRIDGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE BRIDGE MEN CARRYING A BOX OF THEIR BELONGINGS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE BRIDGE ZUHOOR DISTRICT, EASTERN MOSUL, IRAQ (JANUARY 9, 2017) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH DISTRICT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQ MAN WHO FLED THE MUTHANNA DISTRICT, GHAITH AHMED, SAYING: "[We are leaving] because of the mortars. Our homes are fine, thank God, but we left because of the shelling and the mortars." PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH DISTRICT
  • Embargoed: 24th January 2017 16:55
  • Keywords: Muthanna Zuhoor eastern Mosul CTS Islamic State
  • Location: MUTHANNA AND ZUHOOR DISTRICTS, EASTERN MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: MUTHANNA AND ZUHOOR DISTRICTS, EASTERN MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015YD1HL3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Iraqis fled the recently recaptured Muthanna district on Monday (January 9) crossing a damaged bridge on the Khosr river.
    Although their area is now under the control of Iraqi forces, residents are escaping to safer areas fearing Islamic State retaliation.
    Ghaith Ahmed said he left his home because of the constant stream of mortars fired at their homes by Islamic state militants.
    On Friday (January 6), elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces using night-vision equipment crossed the Khosr river, a tributary that runs perpendicular to the Tigris through eastern Mosul, via a makeshift earth bridge after Islamic State had destroyed permanent ones.
    Air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition sped that advance into Muthanna district.
    The CTS are part of a 100,000-strong Iraqi force made up of the military, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S.-led coalition air power.
    The offensive against the militant Islamist group, which began in October, stalled last month but has regained momentum in the last week.
    Recapturing Mosul after more than two years of Islamic State rule would probably spell the end of the Iraqi wing of the group's self-declared caliphate, which spans areas of Iraq and Syria.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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