Peshmerga forces advance towards Bashiqa

Record ID: 83968

  • Title: Peshmerga forces advance towards Bashiqa
  • Date: 23rd October 2016
  • Summary: NAWARAN, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEAVY SMOKE RISING FROM AREA AROUND BASHIQA GENERAL VIEW OF A VILLAGE (AUDIO OF GUNFIRE) VARIOUS OF PESHMERGA FORCES FIRING A ROCKET LAUNCHER PESHMERGA FORCES MOVING THROUGH THE AREA ARMORED VEHICLES AND PESHMERGA FORCES BEHIND A SANDBAG BARRIER VARIOUS OF PESHMERGA FORCES FIRING RIFLES HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD ARMORED VEHICLES DRIVING ALONG ROAD
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2016 06:37
  • Keywords: Kurds Peshmerga Iraq Bashiqa Mosul Islamic State
  • Location: NAWARAN, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ
  • City: NAWARAN, NEAR BASHIQA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015584NK7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Peshmerga forces launched an attack on the town of Bashiqa in northern Iraq on Sunday (October 23) as part of a wider offensive to recapture the region from the Islamic State.
    Bashiqa is 12km northeast of Mosul, the militants' last major city stronghold in Iraq.
    Turkish soldiers have been training Sunni Muslim and allied Kurdish Peshmerga units at a camp near Bashiqa and have wanted them involved in the assault on Mosul.
    But their presence has sparked a row with the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, which objects to the Turkish military presence and is keen that its own forces be at the forefront of the offensive.
    Iraqi forces have advanced to five km (three miles) from Mosul and there are signs of revolt against the group, the interior minister of the Kurdish regional government, Karim Sinjar, said in an interview on Saturday in Erbil.
    The Iraqi army's media office said about 50 villages had been taken from the militants since Monday in operations to prepare the main thrust into Mosul itself, where 5,000 to 6,000 IS fighters are dug in, according to Iraqi estimates.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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