- Title: Iraqi Counter Terrorism unit searches village for IS militants
- Date: 25th October 2016
- Summary: BAZWAIA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICES' TANKS AND ARMOURED VEHICLES ON ROAD IRAQ AND SHI'ITE FLAGS TANK ON ROAD ARMOURED VEHICLES MOVING IN CONVOY FIRE-DAMAGED BUILDING SOLDIER ON ROOF VARIOUS OF COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICES AND ARMOURED VEHICLES IN VILLAGE DAMAGED BUILDING VARIOUS OF ARMOURED VEHICLE CLOSE TO BURNED OUT CAR HEAD OF THE COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE, LIEUTENANT GENERAL ABDELGHANI AL-ASSADI, WALKING WITH COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF THE COUNTER-TERRORISM UNIT, LIEUTENANT GENERAL ABDELGHANI AL-ASSADI, SAYING: "We are now searching for tunnels or any Daesh (Islamic State) members hiding here or there. God willing the situation is good, we have ended this stage. The coalition planes are targeting certain locations we tell them about. While you were here you probably heard several strikes that were carried out by the coalition." SMOKE RISING BEHIND BUILDINGS ARMOURED VEHICLES PARKED CLOSE TO BUILDINGS FIRE-DAMAGED HOUSE TANK PARKED ON ROAD DIGGER AND TANKS MOVING ALONG ROAD ARMOURED VEHICLES MOVING ALONG ROAD WITH BULLET CASINGS ON GROUND
- Embargoed: 9th November 2016 17:56
- Keywords: Iraw Mosul ISIS Islamic State CTS Golden Division Bazwaia
- Location: BAZWAIA, IRAQ
- City: BAZWAIA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00155I92RR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The Iraqi army's elite unit, the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), searched the recently recaptured village of Bazwaia for Islamic State militants, on Tuesday (October 25), with its commander announcing the end of a stage in its push for Mosul.
Head of the unit, Lieutenant General Abdelghani Al Assadi, speaking in the village 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) east of Mosul said the situation was going well.
"We are now searching for tunnels or any Daesh (Islamic State) members hiding here or there. God willing the situation is good, we have ended this stage," he said.
"The coalition planes are targeting certain locations we tell them about," he added.
About 80 Islamic State-held villages and towns have been retaken in the first week of the offensive, bringing Iraqi and Kurdish forces closer to the edge of the city itself - where the battle will be hardest fought.
The Iraqi force attacking Mosul is 30,000-strong, joined by U.S. special forces and under American, French and British air cover. The number of insurgents dug in the city is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 by the Iraqi military.
Some 1.5 million residents remain in the city and worst-case forecasts see up to a million being uprooted, according to the United Nations. U.N. aid agencies said the fighting has so far forced about 7,400 to flee their homes.
In a series of counter-attacks on far-flung targets across Iraq since Friday (October 21), Islamic State fighters have hit Kirkuk, the north's main oil city, the town of Rutba that controls the road from Baghdad to Jordan and Syria, and Sinjar, a region west of Mosul inhabited by the persecuted Yazidi minority. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
