- Title: Iraqi forces push into southeast of IS-held city of Mosul
- Date: 5th December 2016
- Summary: INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD, SOUTHEAST MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING DOWN STREET VIEW OF ROAD FROM INSIDE HUMVEE AS IT DRIVES DOWN ROAD MILITARY VEHICLES ON ROAD VARIOUS OF SKYLINE OF INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD THROUGH HOLE IN WALL SOLDIER AIMING / FIRING VARIOUS OF INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD / ISLAMIC STATE CONTROLLED AREA IN FRONT VARIOUS OF SOLDIER FIRING THROUGH HOLE IN A WALL DESTROYED HOUSE / SOLDIERS TAKING COVER BEHIND WALL MACHINE GUN FIRING VARIOUS OF SOLDIER AIMING MACHINE GUN THROUGH WALL HOLE / FIRING SMOKE BILLOWING FROM TARGET IRAQI SOLDIER AND OFFICER WALKING IN NEIGHBOURHOOD SOLDIERS WALKING MEN WATCHING FROM DOOR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMANDER OF THE 2ND BATTALION, 3RD BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, COLONEL MOHAMMED, SAYING; "We are now at Intisar neighbourhood, Nineveh province. We are the defensive lines of al-Karama district and in front of us there is al-Salam neighbourhood, which is the last point for the forces of the 3rd Brigade, First Division. Now, our sector is quiet and there is no Daesh (a commonly used Arabic acronym for Islamic State) here. They were retreating and they were in low supply and they were cut off from their supply routes, so they were retreating gradually and they've started to flee." SOLDIERS HOLDING GUNS CROUCHED BEHIND WALL SOLDIER AIMING / SNIPER NEXT TO HIM AIMING SOLDIER AIMING THROUGH HOLE IN WALL / FIRING SNIPER AIMING / SOLDIER NEXT TO HIM FIRING SMOKE RISING IN DISTANCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SERGEANT OF 3RD BRIGADE, 3RD DIVISION, ABDUL MALIK KADHIM, SAYING: "It is a battlefront and there are clashes and there is an enemy and weapons. We will not let them lift their heads up. They are like rats seeking shelter in alleys, thank God." IRAQI SOLDIERS SITTING BEHIND WALL SKYLINE SMOKE RISING IN DISTANCE
- Embargoed: 20th December 2016 13:43
- Keywords: Mosul Iraq fighting Islamic State Intisar army Colonel Mohammed
- Location: INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD, SOUTHEAST MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD, SOUTHEAST MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BLYQMF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Explosions and gunfire rang out across the southern part of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul on Monday (December 5) as western-backed Iraqi forces pressed on with their offensive to take remaining neighbourhoods, seven weeks into a tortuous campaign to drive the militants from the city.
Artillery and tanks of the army's Ninth Armoured Division pounded the neighbourhoods of Shaima, Wahda and al-Quds southeast of the city of Mosul ahead of storming them.
Elite Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service units and the armoured division have captured around half of the eastern side of Mosul, which is split down the centre by the Tigris river.
A U.S.-led coalition has bombed four of the five bridges across the river, aiming to stem a flow of suicide car bombers coming from the west of the city to target the army in the east.
In the Intisar district, the tanks of the armoured division have struggled to adapt to close-quarter urban warfare, and commanders have summoned infantry reinforcement, an officer said.
Commanders also hope to stretch Islamic State defences more thinly, by opening new fronts inside the city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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