- Title: U.S. "rocket city" hits Islamic State targets in Mosul
- Date: 26th October 2016
- Summary: QAYYARA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SIGN READING (English): "WELCOME TO LSA PVT JOE E. MANN, MEDAL OF HONOR AUGUST 30, 1945. Q-WEST, IRAQ" HUMVEES IN Q-WEST US BASE TENTS IN BASE MORE OF HUMVEES IN BASE VARIOUS OF U.S. SOLDIERS CARRYING WITH WEAPONS (SOUNDBITE) (English) COALITION SPOKESMAN, MAJOR CHRIS PARKER, SAYING: "The operation to liberate Mosul is a very big operation going on right now, this is a key place for that. The Iraqi security forces staged thousands of troops out of the Qayyara area, and we are able to support their fight from here using our artillery systems, our high mars rocket system, plus there is logistical support that can come out of here, and the advice and assist mission of course continues. So we are using what we have at this base to continue to support the Iraqis as they push towards Mosul." ARMOURED VEHICLES DRIVING NEAR BASE BARBED WIRE ON CEMENT FENCE SURROUNDING BASE VARIOUS OF U.S. SOLDIER STANDING ON LOOKOUT POST SOLDIER'S RIFLE POINTED OUT OF LOOKOUT POST GENERAL VIEW OF AREA SOLDIERS, HUMVEES AT SAND BARRIER SOLDIERS STANDING NEAR SIGN READING (English): "ROCKET CITY" MORE OF SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) COALITION SPOKESMAN, MAJOR CHRIS PARKER, SAYING: "Well it's a concern for us and we are taking steps to ensure that our forces here are safe, so we are taking measures to mitigate the risk, soldiers, when the sulphur count gets to a certain degree, will don protective gear to make sure that they are as safe as possible. So it is a concern, it is risk. What surprises me, not even surprises, the concern to me too, is what this is doing to the civilian population. The fact that so many civilians out there in Iraq are at risk of some serious health concerns because Daesh (Arabic acronym for Islamic State) has chosen to use this brutal method to try to cover their losses." VARIOUS OF ARMOURED VEHICLE DRIVING ALONG DUSTY PATH VARIOUS OF TANK, RADAR NEAR BASE FENCE VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS CARRYING WEAPONS TANK AT BASE
- Embargoed: 10th November 2016 13:35
- Keywords: Iraq Qayyara Mosul US forces Islamic State IS rocket city
- Location: QAYYARA, IRAQ
- City: QAYYARA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00155N5LQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:When Islamic State fighters were pushed out of the Qayyara airbase in July, they tried to demolish anything left behind.
The airstrip was dug up and booby trapped, and concrete barriers were knocked down along with a large water tower.
U.S. Maj. Chris Parker, a coalition spokesman, said the militants did everything to make the facility unusable.
Now the base, referred to as Q-West by American forces, has become the main staging ground for some 1,000 troops from the U.S.-led coalition along with thousands of soldiers from the Iraqi army and federal police as they try to advance on Mosul.
"The operation to liberate Mosul is a very big operation going on right now, this is a key place for that. The Iraqi security forces staged thousands of troops out of the Qayyara area, and we are able to support their fight from here using our artillery systems, our high mars rocket system, plus there is logistical support that can come out of here, and the advice and assist mission of course continues. So we are using what we have at this base to continue to support the Iraqis as they push towards Mosul," Parker said.
The U.S. army, air force and marines all have troops on the base, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Mosul, and there is a joint operations room where American and Iraqi commanders share intelligence and plan out logistical support.
Repairs have been ongoing since U.S. troops arrived in late August: the airstrip has been demined and the first U.S. C-130 transport plane flew into the base in the past couple of days.
Even though Islamic State is gone, the threat remains. Mortars have been fired into the base in the two months that U.S. troops have been there.
And just last week, toxic sulphur fumes - from a nearby plant that U.S. military and ordinary Iraqis say was torched by Islamic State - spread to the base.
"It's a concern for us," Parker said. "We are taking measures to mitigate the risk, soldiers, when the sulphur count gets to a certain degree, will don protective gear to make sure that they are as safe as possible. So it is a concern, it is risk. What surprises me, not even surprises, the concern to me too, is what this is doing to the civilian population. The fact that so many civilians out there in Iraq are at risk of some serious health concerns because Daesh (Arabic acronym for Islamic State) has chosen to use this brutal method to try to cover their losses," he added.
The stated U.S. mission is not to head out with Iraqi soldiers to fight on the frontlines. Instead, they hit targets provided by the Iraqi army or through coalition surveillance with air strikes, GPS-aided rockets and conventional artillery.
The GPS-aided rockets, known by the acronym HMARS (high mobility artillery rocket system), have a range of up to 70 km and are positioned at a spot on the base the soldiers have dubbed "rocket city".
Since the operation to recapture Mosul from Islamic State began last week, the U.S. military has dropped 1,700 munitions on targets in the battlefield.
Islamic State has put up a tough fight around Qayyara but the Iraqi army and federal police have managed to wrest 14 villages from their control.
As they advance, the Hashid Ashaeri, or Tribal Mobilisation, a force composed of tribal fighters from the mainly Sunni Muslim area, move in to hold ground that has been taken back from Islamic State.
Concerns have been raised about the involvement in the Mosul operation of another force, the Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation coalition of Shi'ite militias.
There are fears the involvement of Shi'ite fighters could ramp up sectarian tension with Sunni civilians in the area, or that they could carry out revenge attacks. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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