- Title: Iraqi soldiers clear village recently recaptured from Islamic State
- Date: 12th November 2016
- Summary: SAMAH NEIGHBOURHOOD, NEAR KOKJALI, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 12, 2016) (REUTERS) SKYLINE OF MOSUL SEEN FROM SAMAH NEIGHBOURHOOD, AUDIO OF CALL TO PRAYER VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM ABOVE MOSUL SKYLINE VARIOUS OF VEHICLES CARRYING PEOPLE FLEEING AREA DRIVING THROUGH TOWN PEOPLE FLEEING TOWN ON FOOT MAN PUSHING CART LADEN WITH SUITCASES AND CHILD VARIOUS OF VEHICLES CARRYING DISPLACED PEOPLE AT CHECKPOINT SMOKE RISING IN DISTANCE AS PEOPLE LEAVE AREA VARIOUS OF ARMOURED VEHICLE DRIVING ALONG STREETS COMMANDER IN IRAQI ARMY, LIEUTENANT COLONEL HAZEM, SPEAKING TO SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMANDER IN IRAQI ARMY, LIEUTENANT COLONEL HAZEM, SAYING: "If Mosul were empty of residents it would have been liberated in a few days, their presence hinders our work. As you know, Daesh [Islamic State] does not care about human life, but it is very important for our troops to preserve human life, we care about the residents of the area. The people living there are facing shelling and targeting by Daesh, therefore we prefer that the liberation process is slow in order to preserve the lives of civilians." FEDERAL POLICE MEMBERS WALKING INTO HOME THEY SAY USED AS WEAPON-MAKING FACTORY BY ISLAMIC STATE ENTRANCE OF MAKESHIFT FACTORY FEDERAL POLICE INSIDE FACTORY VARIOUS OF WEAPONS FOUND SOLDIER, JASEM MOHAMMED, SHOWING MATERIALS USED IN WEAPON-MAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SOLDIER, JASEM MOHAMMED, SAYING: "This is a factory used by Daesh to create rockets and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and vehicle-borne explosive devices and other items." VARIOUS OF WEAPONS AND MATERIAL IN FACTORY SOLDIERS WALKING THROUGH THE FACTORY
- Embargoed: 27th November 2016 15:53
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul IS Daesh Islamic State Kokjali militants
- Location: SAMAH NEIGHBOURHOOD, NEAR KOKJALI, IRAQ
- City: SAMAH NEIGHBOURHOOD, NEAR KOKJALI, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015851R2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Iraqi soldiers on Saturday (November 12) checked through buildings in a neighbourhood near the village of Kokjali, east of Mosul, after its recapture from Islamic State militants.
Some residents of the Samah neighbourhood decided to flee their homes for fear of retaliation by Islamic State forces and continued clashes in the area.
The checkpoint in Kokjali, manned by counter-terrorism forces and local police, is the first stop for residents leaving eastern Mosul.
Iraqi special forces said on Friday (November 11) they had pushed deeper into Mosul despite heavy resistance from Islamic State militants using civilians as cover, and were holding half a dozen city neighbourhoods seized in the last 10 days.
A commander with the army said on Saturday in Samah that movement into the city was slow in order to preserve life.
"If Mosul were empty of residents it would have been liberated in a few days, their presence hinders our work. As you know, Daesh [Islamic State] does not care about human life, but it is very important for our troops to preserve human life, we care about the residents of the area," Lieutenant Colonel Hazem said.
Special forces also said they had uncovered an Islamic State weapon-making facility in the neighbourhood, which one soldier, Jasem Mohammed, said was used to make: "rockets and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and vehicle-borne explosive devices and other items".
The special forces are the spearhead of a wider coalition of 100,000 fighters seeking to crush a few thousand Islamic State jihadists who have ruled Mosul, the biggest city of their cross-border "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, for the last two years.
The campaign, nearly four weeks old, is the most complex military operation in Iraq in the 13 years of turmoil since the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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