- Title: Iraqi special forces screen Mosul men in hunt for suicide bombers
- Date: 28th November 2016
- Summary: SHUQAQ AL-KHADRA'A, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) HUMVEE OF COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE (CTS) DRIVING MILITARY VEHICLES OF CTS DRIVING PAST HOUSES / MEN WAVING TO TROOPS MOSQUE / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE BLACK HUMVEES OF CTS IN STREET CTS MEMBER CLUTCHING HIS RIFLE AS HE STANDS GUARD IN NEIGHBOURHOOD / CHILDREN IN BACKGROUND LOOKING AT HIM / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE CHILDREN LOOKING AT CTS MEMBER FLEEING RESIDENTS LIFTING SHIRTS TO PROVE THEY ARE NOT STRAPPED WITH EXPLOSIVES SECURITY FORCES BODY SEARCHING RESIDENTS VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS SITTING ON GROUND WAITING TO BE SEARCHED BY THE IRAQI ARMED FORCES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF NEIGHBOURHOOD, OMAR ABDULLAH, SAYING: "My son worked in a restaurant of Bab al-Huda Mosque, and Daesh (Islamic State) were at the mosque. Daesh brainwashed him. At the same time, he was trying to get married but he didn't have the means because times are tough. They gave him money and promised him marriage. He left without telling us. We woke up one day and we did not find him. He left me a letter, saying that he had joined them." SUSPECTED MILITANT KNEELING DOWN IN FRONT OF TWO SECURITY FORCES INTERROGATING HIM VARIOUS OF SUSPECTED MILITANTS BEING ESCORTED BY IRAQI SECURITY MEMBER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL, HUSSEIN ZA'ALAN, SAYING: "We carry out interrogation and security checks in all the areas liberated by the formations of the Counter-Terrorism Service. We have a database in addition to local informants and our own sources. We check information of the residents of Shuqaq al-Khadra'a cleared by the forces the Counter-Terrorism Service. We are now carrying out security checks and question the residents." CTS MEMBER HOLDING UP WEAPON RESIDENTS WAITING TO BE CHECKED WOMEN FLEEING, WAVING WHITE FLAG / SECURITY FORCES WALKING IN AREA / WOMAN GREETING SECURITY FORCES MEMBER OF SECURITY FORCES KISSING LOCAL WOMAN WHO COMES TO GREET THEM BLANK SHELL OF ARTILLERY ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UMM ABDULLAH, SAYING: "I am very happy that you have come. We are tired. We do not have jobs. We have no food and no money to pay rents. All my sons have lost their jobs and we were left with no income. We have to borrow money from others in order to buy food and survive." SECURITY FORCES SEARCHING HOUSE CLOTHES IN WARDROBE SECURITY OFFICIAL SEARCHING ROOM CTS FORCES NEAR THEIR VEHICLES IN AREA EMPTY STREET
- Embargoed: 13th December 2016 11:37
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul Islamic State infiltration residents
- Location: SHUQAQ AL-KHADRA'A, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: SHUQAQ AL-KHADRA'A, EAST OF MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ACXOW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One by one, hundreds of Mosul residents raised their shirts to prove they did not have suicide bombs strapped to their bodies, closely watched by Iraqi special forces fearful of the threat posed by Islamic State, even in areas they now control.
The residents, many with beards of the size required by Islamic State, sat in rows as their names were called on Sunday (November 27). From time to time, a mortar bomb exploded nearby or shooting rang out.
The men then handed over their identification cards so their names could be checked against a database of wanted Islamic State members, part of the painstaking process of clearing jihadists from each neighbourhood of their Mosul stronghold.
Since the Islamic State captured Mosul, they have been actively recruiting young Iraqis to expand their ranks.
Omar Abdullah, 51, one of the men being processed, sat beside his 16-year-old son, Ibrahim. The teenager attended Islamic State indoctrination lectures on religion for 10 days before Abdullah managed to persuade him to leave the group.
But he was not so lucky with another son, who is an Islamic State fighter in the nearby city of Tal Afar.
"My son worked in a restaurant of Bab al-Huda Mosque, and Daesh (Islamic State) were at the mosque. Daesh brainwashed him. At the same time, he was trying to get married but he didn't have the means because times are tough. They gave him money and promised him marriage. He left without telling us. We woke up one day and we did not find him. He left me a letter, saying that he had joined them," said Abdullah.
Every time Iraqi forces capture a section of Mosul in their offensive against Islamic State, it can take up to a week to ensure it is clear of militants.
Some hide in the network of tunnels they have constructed, while others mix with thousands of displaced people or stay behind to form sleeper cells in the crowded neighbourhoods of Mosul, a city of more than one million people.
"We carry out interrogation and security checks in all the areas liberated by the formations of the Counter-Terrorism Service. We have a database in addition to local informants and our own sources. We check information of the residents of Shuqaq al-Khadra'a cleared by the forces the Counter-Terrorism Service. We are now carrying out security checks and question the residents," explained senior intelligence official, Captain Hussein Za'alan.
Iraqi security officials say they have seized a large area of eastern Mosul in the biggest ground operation in the country since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraqi leaders hope the Mosul campaign will bring stability after years of sectarian bloodshed followed by the arrival of Islamic State in 2014.
While the Iraqis seem confident of victory, the security clamp-down in the Shuqaq al-Khadra'a district of Mosul suggests Islamic State still poses a threat even as it loses territory. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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