Most Islamic State commanders in Mosul are dead, Iraqi general says

Record ID: 164898

  • Title: Most Islamic State commanders in Mosul are dead, Iraqi general says
  • Date: 19th January 2017
  • Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (JANUARY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) LIEUTENANT-GENERAL ABDUL GHANI AL-ASSADI WALKING IN NEWLY RETAKEN AREA OF ZUHOUR IN EASTERN MOSUL VARIOUS OF ASSADI SITTING DOWN WITH FELLOW COMMANDER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMANDER OF THE COUNTER TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS), LIEUTENANT-GENERAL ABDUL GHANI AL-ASSADI, SAYING: "We are waiting the instructions of the head of the armed forces about completing what is left of Mosul, the western side. God willing, there will be a meeting in the next few days attended by all the commanders concerned with liberation operations.'' ASSADI HOLDING A COFFEE CUP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMANDER OF THE COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS), LIEUTENANT-GENERAL ABDUL GHANI AL-ASSADI, SAYING: ''It will not be harder than what we have seen. The majority of (IS) commanders have been killed on the eastern side. They sent fighters from the western side to the east and those fighters have been killed too. This is what we will base our operations on in the western side and God willing it will be less hard than the eastern side." VARIOUS OF GENERAL ASSADI AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE LOOKING AROUND AREA HIGHWAY IN ZUHOUR DISTRICT, SOUND OF GUNFIRE IN THE DISTANCE VARIOUS OF MILITARY VEHICLES AND PERSONNEL IN STREET MILITARY VEHICLE BLOCKING ROAD SOLDIERS ON TOP OF VEHICLE VIEW OF BUILDINGS IN TAL KEIF AREA SMOKE RISING ON THE HORIZON BUILDING ROOFTOPS WITH ISLAMIC STATE SIGN SMOKE RISING FROM BEHIND BUILDINGS SOLDIER FIRING MACHINE GUN IRAQI SOLDIERS RUNNING BESIDE WALL SOLDIERS WALKING ON STREET VARIOUS OF MILITARY VEHICLES AND SOLDIERS ENTERING CITY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF NINTH ARMOURED DIVISION, QASSEM NAZZAL, SAYING: ''Our forces have managed to take control of Tal Keif but there are still areas that still need to be cleansed, the buildings, they might still be some of them. We are in the process of cleansing the area.'' SOLDIERS WALKING PAST MILITARY VEHICLE VARIOUS OF HOUSE DAMAGED BY FIGHTING MILITARY VEHICLE DRIVING THROUGH ALLEY CHILDREN ON ROOFTOP MAKING PEACE SIGN FEMALE RESIDENT SERVING TEA TO ARMY GENERAL LEASE DOCUMENT SAID TO SHOW ISLAMIC STATE REAL ESTATE AUTHORITY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF MOSUL AREA OF TAL KEIF, UM YOUSEF, SAYING: ''If you wanted to leave you had to pay at least 10 notes, where do we get this from? We were forced to stay. Many people stayed, Tal Keif was full of people. But in the recent days, there was a road that was open and some people managed to escape at night.'' MILITARY VEHICLES ON ROAD RESIDENTS WALKING DOWN THE STREET WOMAN WITH CHILDREN LIFTING BUCKET BURNT OUT VEHICLE RESIDENTS BY SIDE OF THE ROAD, CARS DRIVING PAST
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2017 16:47
  • Keywords: Mosul Iraq Islamic State army
  • Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015ZR0IFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The fight to take the western side of Mosul, which remains under the control of Islamic State militants, should not be more difficult than the one on the eastern side, an Iraqi general said on Thursday (January 19).
    Lieutenant-General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi also told Reuters, while on a tour of areas newly retaken, that most Islamic State (IS) commanders in Mosul have been killed in battles with Iraqi government forces that raged over the past three months in the eastern side of the city.
    Assadi's Counter-Terrorism Service announced on Wednesday that almost all of the city's eastern half had been brought under government control.
    "God willing, there will be a meeting in the next few days attended by all the commanders concerned with liberation operations," he said, replying to a question on when he expects a thrust into the western side of Mosul to begin.
    "It will not be harder than what we have seen. The majority of (IS) commanders have been killed in the eastern side," al-Assadi said. He did not give further details.
    Since late 2015, government forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air power have wrested back large amounts of northern and western territory overrun by IS in a shock 2014 offensive.
    Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi said late on Tuesday that Islamic State had been severely weakened in the Mosul campaign, and the military had begun moving against it in the western half. He did not elaborate.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register