- Title: Iraqi army, Peshmergas storm village northeast of Mosul
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: TOPZAWA, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF IRAQI HUMVEES IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOPZAWA VILLAGE HUMVEE MOVING FORWARD, SOLDIERS WALKING NEARBY VARIOUS OF TANKS AND HUMVEES NEAR THE VILLAGE DAMAGED STORAGE UNIT IN THE VILLAGE HEAVY DUST AND SMOKE RISING FROM A BURNING CAR DAMAGED BUILDING ARMOURED VEHICLES AND PESHMERGA FORCES NEAR A SAND BARRIER VARIOUS OF PESHMERGA SOLDIERS LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF THE BASHIQA REGION OPERATION, BRIGADIER NOUREDIN HUSSEIN, SAYING: "We are now between the villages of Teiss Kharab and Topzawa, which is located eight kilometres northeast of Mosul. Over the past two days we were able to liberate Teiss Kharab, Der Halab, Kharab Dalel, Bashiqa, Bahzar, Fadilia, Qanona, Omar Qamshi, Achichok. This sound (eds note: refers to audio of explosions) is normal, the Iraqi army is now storming the village of Topzawa, which is located north of Mosul, we are only one kilometre away from it. We will continue to dig trenches. God willing, we will finish building the sand barrier within a day." VARIOUS OF IRAQI HUMVEES IN AREA
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 11:51
- Keywords: Iraq Mosul Topzawa Islamic State Bashiqa
- Location: TOPZAWA, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ
- City: TOPZAWA, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D6R7R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Iraqi and Peshmerga forces stormed a village located northeast of Mosul on Monday (October 24) as part of a wider operation to recapture the city, which is the Islamic State's final stronghold in the area.
The village of Topzawa is located 8 km northeast of Mosul and is close to the village of Bashiqa which was taken by Kurdish fighters on Sunday (October 23).
"We are now between the villages of Teiss Kharab and Topzawa, which is located eight kilometres northeast of Mosul. Over the past two days we were able to liberate Teiss Kharab, Der Halab, Kharab Dalel, Bashiqa, Bahzar, Fadilia, Qanona, Omar Qamshi, Achichok," said Brigadier Nouredin Hussein, head of the Bashiqa region operation, told reporters amid the sound of explosions.
Turkey has troops at the base in Bashiqa, where they have been helping to train Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni fighters.
Almost one week into the U.S.-led onslaught, many of those running the campaign say the battle to retake the city could be long and hard.
Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city, is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his Sunni caliphate in 2014, after his alliance between millenarian Islamists and veteran officers from the disbanded army of Saddam Hussein roared back into Iraq from bases they set up in the mayhem of Syria's war.
Five Iraqi army divisions melted away before jihadis numbered in hundreds.
The the battle to retake Mosul pits an unwieldy coalition of a 30,000-strong Iraqi regular force backed by the US and Europeans, alongside Kurdish and Shi'ite militias, against jihadis who have exploited the Sunni community's sense of dispossession in Iraq and betrayal in Syria. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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