- Title: Iraqi general's tour suggests tough fight ahead in west Mosul
- Date: 22nd January 2017
- Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (JANUARY 21, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL ABDUL-WAHAB AL-SAADI AND HIS FORCES WALKING TOWARDS A HOME BELIEVED TO BE OCCUPIED BY ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS IN AL MOHANDISEEN DISTRICT OF MOSUL VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ENTERING HOME LEAFLETS AND PAMPHLETS PUBLISHED BY ISLAMIC STATE LYING ON FLOOR LEAFLET WITH ISLAMIC STATE STAMP AND TITLE READING (Arabic): ''RUSSIAN MACHINE GUN'' MORE OF VARIOUS SHOTS OF LEAFLETS BOX WITH NAILS ROOM INSIDE HOUSE WITH SHELLS OF AMMUNITION LYING ON FLOOR VARIOUS OF SHELLS BAGS OF NAILS SAADI GOING DOWN STAIRS AND ENTERING ROOM VARIOUS OF GENERAL HAIDAR FADEL, COMMANDER FROM AL SAADI'S UNIT POSING FOR PICTURE WITH LOCAL RESIDENT'S BABY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TOP COMMANDER OF THE IRAQI COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS), GENERAL HAIDAR FADEL, SAYING: "We don't have specific information on the numbers of prisoners they had. The civilians here told us they do not know how many people were there but that they used to hear the screams of the prisoners being held there probably because of the torture. People who were being brought here, I expect they were the ones who used to disobey them in jihad or in the fighting or those who do not observe their rules among civilians." RESIDENTS STANDING ON STREET RESIDENTS LOOKING AT IRAQI MILITARY VEHICLES WITH FORCES AND MEMBERS OF MEDIA TRAVELLING WITH SAADI'S CONVOY SAADI, HIS AIDES AND JOURNALISTS WALKING THROUGH BACKYARD AND INTO HOUSE USED AS PRISON VARIOUS OF POLICE AND JOURNALISTS INSIDE HALL WITH METAL DOORS ON EACH SIDE VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF ROOM WHERE PRISONERS OF ISLAMIC STATE SLEPT IRAQI SOLDIERS WALKING VIEW OF BRIDGE AND REMAINS OF ANCIENT NINEVEH FORTRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF THE IRAQI COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS), CAPTAIN THAER SAAD, SAYING: "There are no challenges. Because of the battles that the CTS have been through, there are no difficulties, but it can be that there are delays and obstacles because of fighting in populated areas. The fighting is going to be hard, but the experience that the CTS has gained makes it capable of overcoming all obstacles." IRAQI SOLDIER CARRYING REMAINS OF DRONES BUILT BY ISLAMIC STATE VARIOUS OF DRONE PARTS MEMBER OF THE CTS SHOWING SPARE PARTS FOR DRONES VARIOUS OF CTS MEMBERS AND MEDIA LOOKING AT LOCKERS BELONGING TO ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS MEMBER OF THE CTS HOLDING RADIO RECEIVER USED IN DRONE, SAYING (Arabic): "This is a receiver, it can get a WiFi signal for the remote control and it will be the same brand as the remote and has four channels or seven channels." VARIOUS OF WIRES AND CABLES INSIDE LOCKER VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF NINEVEH OBEROI HOTEL BUILDING THAT WAS BASE FOR ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS VARIOUS OF WRITING ON A WALL INSIDE THE HOTEL READING (Arabic): ''Long live Islamic State.'' INTERIOR OF NINEVEH OBEROI HOTEL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TOP COMMANDER OF THE IRAQI COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS), LIEUTENANT GENERAL ABDUL-WAHAB AL-SAADI, SAYING: ''This hotel, they even changed its name from Nineveh Oberoi to the Hotel of the Inheritors. God willing it will go back to being Nineveh Hotel. It was a place for them for the gatherings of the foreigners and Arabs and they used it as a residential place in the ground floors. REPORTER ASKING: "Why was it used by them? Because it was five stars?" "Five stars, the foreigners and the suicide bombers… in order to encourage them." REPORTER ASKING: "What does this tell you about their mentality?" "They don't have mentality, if they had one, they would not have become Daesh.'' COMMANDERS OF CTS ON TOP OF HOTEL BUILDING MORE OF VARIOUS SHOTS OF HOTEL EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 5th February 2017 11:17
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul general Islamic State offensive militants' home
- Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001605VRYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Iraqi counter-terrorism service (CTS) top commander took a group of journalists on a tour on Saturday (January 21) inside the homes once occupied by the IS militants in eastern Mosul.
Flanked by bodyguards in the Mohandiseen neighbourhood, Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, greeted by locals as a hero, got a firsthand view of Islamic State's meticulous planning and reign of terror as he moved from house to house.
A large bucket was filled with screws that were packed into explosives to kill and maim. Beside the leaflets were a pair of industrial rubber gloves, wires and detonators.
In one home were a set of instructions on how to make bombs and a thick book described how to use Russian machine guns.
Militants were also well-versed on how to employ anti-tank missiles. Laminated guides on the range of various weapons could be found on the floor or on tables.
One house was clearly dedicated to the production of small drone aircraft used for both surveillance and attacks. Several lay scattered on the floor.
A document with Islamic State logos asked detailed questions about the type of drone mission, either bombing, an explosive aircraft, spying or training.
Saadi's men were tipped off Islamic State had converted a villa on the street he was standing on into a prison and torture chamber. People were held on the top floor in rooms with steel bars.
"We don't have specific information on the numbers of prisoners they had. The civilians here told us they do not know how many people were there but that they used to hear the screams of the prisoners being held there probably because of the torture," CTS top commander, general Haidar Fadel said.
Islamic State ruled eastern Mosul with zero tolerance for dissent, routinely shooting or beheading anyone branded an opponent to their radical ideology.
Across town, overlooking the Tigris River dividing east and west, the former Ninewah Oberoi Hotel offered another glimpse into Islamic State, which changed its name to Hotel of the Inheritors.
"It was a place for them for the gatherings of the foreigners and Arabs and they used it as a residential place in the ground floors," Saadi said.
Gunshots rang out, and explosions could be heard, a precursor to the upcoming campaign in west Mosul.
The tour was a reminder of the dangers ahead as security forces prepare to expand their offensive against the Sunni militants into west Mosul which has many narrow streets and alleyways that tanks and other large armoured vehicles cannot pass through.
The next phase of the offensive is expected to kick off in a few days and jihadists are expected to put up a much tougher fight to hold on to their last stronghold in Iraq.
The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen, is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
Iraqi security forces have retaken most of east Mosul, with the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes which flattened rows of buildings in the city.
Mosul, the largest city held by Islamic State across its once vast, self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, has been occupied by the group since its fighters drove the U.S.-trained army out in June 2014.
Its fall would mark the end of the caliphate but the militants are widely expected to mount an insurgency in Iraq and inspire attacks in the West. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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