New bridge links Mosul as Iraqi forces gear up for final assault

Record ID: 876833

  • Title: New bridge links Mosul as Iraqi forces gear up for final assault
  • Date: 24th May 2017
  • Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (MAY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TWO IRAQI SOLDIERS STANDING GUARD AT ONE END OF NEWLY CONSTRUCTED FLOATING BRIDGE ON TIGRIS RIVER / IRAQI MILITARY VEHICLES ON FAR END OF BRIDGE SOLDIER GUARDING BRIDGE, MILITARY VEHICLE CROSSING MILITARY VEHICLE CROSSING OVER BRIDGE FROM WESTERN TO EASTERN SIDE OF MOSUL ANOTHER MILITARY VEHICLE FLYING IRAQI FLAG CROSSING FROM EASTERN TO WESTERN SIDE OF MOSUL MILITARY VEHICLE CROSSING BRIDGE DRIVING INTO EASTERN SIDE OF MOSUL SOLDIERS GUARDING BRIDGE/ IRAQI MILITARY HUMVEES ON OTHER SIDE SOLDIER WALKING ON BRIDGE TO OPPOSITE SIDE VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER CARRYING GRAVEL AND DIRT AND MILITARY VEHICLE AND SOLDIERS NEAR BRIDGE VARIOUS OF BULLDOZER PUSHING CONCRETE SLAB LORRY UNLOADING CARGO OF DIRT AT FOOT OF BRIDGE LORRY DRIVING ON BRIDGE SOLDIER WALKING ON BRIDGE AND MILITARY VEHICLE CROSSING BRIDGE MILITARY VEHICLES PARKED IN AREA ACROSS RIVER BRIDGE AND BUILDING OF NINEVEH OBEROI HOTEL AT FAR END OF BRIDGE MILITARY VEHICLE CROSSING BRIDGE / SOLDIER WALKING BEHIND BRIDGE WITH IRAQI FLAG FLUTTERING ON ITS SIDE
  • Embargoed: 7th June 2017 10:55
  • Keywords: fighting Islamic State Mosul Old City army bridge Tigris
  • Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016I76DDZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Iraqi military engineers installed a new floating bridge across the Tigris river on Wednesday (May 23), reconnecting the two halves of Mosul to facilitate troop deployments ahead of a final assault to dislodge Islamic State.
    All five bridges connecting the two sides of the city bisected by the Tigris were struck by the U.S.-led coalition in order to hinder the militants' movements in the early stages of the campaign to retake Mosul last year.
    Seven months on, Iraqi forces have removed Islamic State from all but a pocket of territory in the western half of Mosul, including the Old City, where the militants are expected to make their last stand.
    Iraq's federal police fought street battles in the Old City on Monday and Tuesday (May 22-23) as they pushed towards the symbolic al-Nuri Mosque. Military commanders say the aim is to raise the Iraqi flag over the mosque, from which Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate, so the battle can be declared won even if pockets of resistance remain.
    Nearly 700,000 people have fled Mosul since the campaign to recapture the city began, seeking refuge either with friends and relatives or in camps. The United Nations said last week up to 200,000 more people may flee as Iraqi forces push to retake the rest of the city.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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