- Title: IRAQ: MOSUL REMAINS TENSE AS MILITANTS ROAM PARTS OF THE CITY
- Date: 13th November 2004
- Summary: (W5) MOSUL, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 13, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. EXTERIOR OF BUILDING LOCALS SAY IS MILITARY BASE 0.07 2. CU: SIGNS ON WALL SAYING 'STOP. AUTHORIZED PERSONS ONLY' 0.14 3. VARIOUS OF BUILDINGS WITH SANDBAGS (5 SHOTS) 0.46 4. POSSIBLE LOOTERS REMOVING SANDBAGS 0.54 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th November 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAZCU0FMZPNHTT4TMLESN84M2Z
- Story Text: Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, remains tense as
militants roam parts of the city.
Groups of insurgents patrolled streets in some districts
of Mosul on Saturday (November 13), but U.S. and Iraqi forces
bolstered their presence to try to wrest back full control of
Iraq's third largest city.
Residents told a Reuters cameraman that looters had removed
sandbags from a building used by U.S. troops, but the U.S has
denied any of its bases have been looted or occupied by
insurgents.
Residents said armed men, some with scarves over their faces,
were roaming areas to the west and south, where three days of
violent unrest has been concentrated.
The U.S. military said while it was not present everywhere,
there were no areas it considered "no go" and control was
gradually being restored. It played down suggestions that
insurgents forced out of Falluja, west of Baghdad, by a
U.S.-led offensive had set up a new base in Mosul.
A U.S. military spokeswoman said she could not confirm reports
that a battalion of U.S. troops had been redeployed from
Falluja back to Mosul to help regain security.
Previously there had been virtually no evidence of U.S. or
Iraqi security forces on the streets, but residents said that
changed on Saturday, with units now positioned at the ends
of some of the five bridges that span the Tigris in
Mosul.
Patrols were moving through northern and central districts, but
residents said the city remained tense.
Mosul, a mostly Sunni Muslim city of about 2 million people,
tipped into chaos on Wednesday (November 10) and Thursday
(November 11), when groups of armed men attacked at least
nine police stations, stealing weapons and bullet-proof
vests and setting the buildings ablaze.
They fought street battles with Iraqi police and National
Guard units, killing five guardsmen in one attack, witnesses
said. One U.S. soldier was killed in another incident.
In some cases it appeared Iraqi police stripped off their
uniforms and joined the militants, witnesses said. The
Iraqi government has since dismissed the head of Mosul's
police force.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
