- Title: Iraqi troops push towards central Mosul
- Date: 6th December 2016
- Summary: INTISAR NEIGHBOURHOOD, MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING FROM CITY/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE SKYLINE/GRAND MOSQUE VARIOUS OF PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING FROM CITY / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IRAQI SOLDIER AND CHILDREN GIVING V (VICTORY) SIGN TANK WITH IRAQI FLAG GOING DOWN STREET SMOKE RISING FROM CITY VARIOUS OF MOSUL SKYLINE VARIOUS OF PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING FROM CITY MOSUL SKYLINE/GRAND MOSQUE AL-SALAM NEIGHBOURHOOD, SOUTHEAST MOSUL, IRAQ (DECEMBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) IRAQI SOLDIERS WALKING/DESTROYED BUILDINGS/RUBBLE/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IRAQI SOLDIER RUNNING DOWN STREET/VEHICLES/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IRAQI SOLDIER GOING THROUGH HOLE IN WALL JOINING OTHER SOLDIERS/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IRAQI SOLDIER LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS FROM HOLE IN WALL/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE IRAQI SOLDIERS WALKING THROUGH RUBBLE STREWN OVER STREET/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE SOLDIER HOLDING ROCKET-PROPELLED GRENADE TAKING POSITION BEHIND BUILDING/FIRING SKYLINE/AUDIO OF GUNFIRE THREE IRAQI SOLDIERS STANDING/DESTROYED BUILDING/RUBBLE IRAQI ARMY MILITARY HUMVEE IN STREET GROUP OF SOLDIERS IN STREET GIVING V SIGN/IRAQI FLAG ON MILITARY VEHICLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI SOLDIER, ABU AHMED, SAYING: "Today, God willing we will enter Sumer neighbourhood and forces of the first company are in Intisar. Thank God, the advance was good and the U.S.-led coalition is providing air cover and God willing, today we will enter the neighbourhood completely and we will fully control it, God willing." U.S. MILITARY VEHICLE IN FRONT OF BUILDING/IRAQI FLAG ON TOP OF BUILDING U.S. TROOPS WALKING NEAR VEHICLE U.S. SOLDIER LYING ON GROUP TWO U.S. SOLDIERS ON ROOF OF BUILDING U.S. MILITARY VEHICLES MORE OF U.S. MILITARY VEHICLES/U.S. TROOPS
- Embargoed: 21st December 2016 13:25
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul conflict Intisar al-Salam Islamic State army
- Location: INTISAR AND AL-SALAM, MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: INTISAR AND AL-SALAM, MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BQWYFB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Iraqi army units launched a fresh assault in Intisar and Al-Salam neighbourhoods in southeast Mosul on Tuesday (December 6) with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.
An armoured division advanced to within less than a mile (1.5 km.) of the Tigris River running through the city centre.
"Today, God willing we will enter Sumer neighbourhood and forces of the first company are in Intisar. Thank God, the advance was good and the U.S.-led coalition is providing air cover," an Iraqi soldier, Abu Ahmed said.
An army colonel told Reuters the offensive, backed by fresh reinforcements and launched at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Tuesday, aimed to overwhelm Islamic State militants who have been waging fierce counter attacks against the army in the east of the city.
The fierce urban warfare has slowed advances by the army's elite Counter Terrorism Services in the east of the city, and the army's Ninth Armoured Division in the southeast.
The troops are part of a 100,000-strong Western-backed coalition of Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi'ite paramilitary forces that launched the attack on Islamic State's stronghold in Iraq seven weeks ago.
The militants still hold three-quarters of Mosul, where around 1 million residents struggle with food and water shortages amid the ongoing fighting.
Mosul was the largest city under Islamic State control and defeating the militants there would be a major blow to the self-styled caliphate which it declared in Iraq and Syria in 2014 after over-running large parts of both countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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