- Title: Intense fighting in eastern Mosul sends Iraqis fleeing for safety
- Date: 16th November 2016
- Summary: AL-ZAHRAA NEIGHBOURHOOD, MOSUL, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 16, 2016) (REUTERS) DISPLACED CHILD CARRYING WHITE FLAG / DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM THE AL-RABIH NEIGHBOURHOOD CARRYING THEIR BAGS VARIOUS OF DISPLACED WOMEN AND CHILDREN WALKING IN AL-ZAHRAA NEIGHBOURHOOD MEN HELPING A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND MAN VARIOUS OF MEN PUSHING CART CARRYING THEIR BELONGINGS VARIOUS OF A DISPLACED MAN, ABU MAHMOUD, PUSHING AN ELDERLY WOMAN ON A CART (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF AL-RABIH NEIGHBOURHOOD, ABU MAHMOUD, SAYING: "We left because of the shelling. The situation was very bad, shelling, mortars. We have young children, we were scared so we left." MORE OF ABU MAHMOUD PUSHING THE WOMAN ON CART ABU MAHMOUD / DISPLACED PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH THE STREETS TRUCK CARRYING SOLDIERS DRIVES THROUGH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD VARIOUS OF A HUMVEE AND A TRUCK CARRYING SOLDIERS DRIVING DOWN THE STREET VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS STANDING ON A TANK IN THE STREET VARIOUS OF THE TANK
- Embargoed: 1st December 2016 15:42
- Keywords: displaced Islamic State Al-Rabh refugee Mosul Counter Terrorism Service CTS
- Location: AL-ZAHRAA NEIGHBOURHOOD, MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: AL-ZAHRAA NEIGHBOURHOOD, MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00158P2MO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Dozens of Iraqis fled from the eastern districts of Mosul as Iraqi armed forces intensified their fight against Islamic State on Wednesday (November 16).
Iraqi Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) had faced fierce resistance from the militants over several days, who launched waves of suicide bombers, sniper attacks and ambushes.
Families including children and the elderly were seen walking with their belongings bundled up in the hope of escaping the constant shelling and exchange of fire between Islamic State and Iraqi armed forces.
One man, Abu Mahmoud, said he fled Mosul's Al-Rabih neighbourhood after the clashes in the area worsened.
The CTS special forces spearheading the advance into Mosul are part of a 100,000-strong force of army, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi'ite "Popular Mobilisation" forces aiming to drive Islamic State from the largest city under their control in Iraq or Syria.
The operation, which entered its fourth week on Monday (November 14), is the most complex in Iraq in over a decade and is complicated by the presence of the more than one million civilians still living under Islamic State control.
More than 56,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates.
The figure does not include the tens of thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None