- Title: Iraqi Kurdish official warns of tough resistance from IS ahead
- Date: 6th November 2016
- Summary: SALAHUDDIN, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 6, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, DURING INTERVIEW KURDISTAN REGION FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "Even if you militarily defeat them, from all these areas, as an ideology it is not going to be vanished. So the fight against ISIS is going to be a long fight. Not only militarily but also economically, ideologically." BARZANI SPEAKING TO REUTERS JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "There are many different IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that they put in different places, they come up with different tactics. Of course there are many that are used like networks, so in one house they are putting one IED and trying to hide it. And once it explodes then the entire neighbourhood explodes." BARZANI SPEAKING TO REUTERS JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "Based on our estimates, only in Iraq about maybe 30,000-35,000 have been killed. So they have recruited new ones, it is not like they came with a fixed number, and then those that were killed you deduct them and see how many are there. No, every day, every week, every month they are trying to recruit new people." BARZANI DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "Of course there is no absolute security anywhere in the world, but so far we have managed to keep it relatively secure. Now we have captured a number of let's say sleeping cells if you will, or people that were disguised as IDPs (internally displaced people)." JOURNALISTS DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "We do believe that ISIS is the byproduct, is the result of a political failure, the political system that failed in this country, in Syria, that led to economic collapse, to political collapse and eventually to security vacuum which was filled by this terrorist radicalism organisation, which eventually led to the rise of ISIS." BARZANI SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "Well, we don't know the exact location, obviously. But we have received information that he is moving in areas, so he is not basically located in one single position, he is not in one place, he is moving around." BARZANI BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITY COUNCIL, MASROUR BARZANI, SAYING: "He has been surrounded by good advisors, people with military and intelligence backgrounds, so they tell him what to do and what not to do, what to carry, where to go and how to protect himself. They are ready to fight the world, so they do have some knowledge of how to protect themselves and hide."
- Embargoed: 21st November 2016 17:13
- Keywords: Islamic State Iraq Mosul coalition fighting Kurdish
- Location: SALAHUDDIN, IRAQ
- City: SALAHUDDIN, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00157B3LTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Iraqi forces are expected to face much fiercer resistance from Islamic State in the next phase of the battle for Mosul, including booby traps that can blow up entire neighborhoods, top Kurdish security official Masrour Barzani, said on Sunday (November 6).
The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said Iraqi forces have made quick progress clearing out Islamic State fighters from eastern Mosul after Kurdish peshmerga units broke through its first lines of defense.
So far in the three-week operation, Islamic State has deployed drones strapped with explosives, long-range artillery shells filled with chlorine and mustard gas and highly effective snipers, Barzani said. Kurdish forces have destroyed more than 50 car bombs.
He cautioned that western Mosul will be a more complex campaign, with a vast number of narrow streets that can't accommodate large military vehicles and an enemy that will fight to the death to defend the capital of its so-called caliphate.
Even if Islamic State is driven out of its main stronghold Mosul, that will not be enough, he said.
Barzani said security personnel were unsure about the location of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"He has been surrounded by good advisors, people with military and intelligence backgrounds," he said. "They do have some knowledge of how to protect themselves and hide."
The Mosul campaign is the most critical land battle in Iraq since a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraqi leaders are also under pressure to ensure that the offensive does not inflame sectarian tensions in predominantly Sunni Mosul and in the country as a whole. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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