Iraqi forces continue push into last Islamic State-held enclave

Record ID: 877658

  • Title: Iraqi forces continue push into last Islamic State-held enclave
  • Date: 1st June 2017
  • Summary: BAB JADID DISTRICT, SOUTH OF OLD CITY MOSUL, IRAQ (JUNE 1, 2017) (REUTERS) AL HADBA LEANING MINARET OF AL-NURI MOSQUE AND SMOKE COMING UP FROM TARGETS HIT NEARBY VARIOUS OF MINARET WITH BLACK FLAG OF ISLAMIC STATE COULD BE SEEN FLYING IRAQI MILITARY HUMVEE STANDING NEAR SAND BAGS AND EARTH EMBANKMENT (AUDIO OF HEAVY GUN FIRE) IRAQI FEDERAL POLICE MEMBER FIRING FROM BEHIND SAND BAGS (AUDIO OF GUN FIRE) GUTTED BUILDING AND HEAPS OF RUBBLE IRAQI FEDERAL POLICE COMMANDER LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULAR VARIOUS OF FEDERAL POLICE MEMBER FIRING THROUGH SMALL HOLE IN WALL (AUDIO OF GUN FIRE) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FEDERAL POLICE LIEUTENANT, QAIS JABBAR, SAYING; "We are at our defensive lines as you see behind me, close to Nabi Sheet street to the left and Daesh is just 150 metres away, in front of us. They (Islamic State) are trying to advance and break our defense lines, but we respond with sniper fire and machine-gun fire. We are fully ready and prepared to defeat them and save the world from them and the evil they represent." FEDERAL POLICE MEMBER FIRING AT DEFENSE LINE IRAQI MILITARY HUMVEES PARKED IN NARROW STREET GROUP OF FEDERAL POLICE MEMBERS STANDING NEAR HUMVEE MILITARY HUMVEE STANDING NEAR DAMAGED BUILDINGS AND RUBBLE TWO FEDERAL POLICE MEMBERS WALKING DOWN STREET, HEAP OF RUBBLE USED AS EARTH EMBANKMENT
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2017 12:31
  • Keywords: Mosul offensive Iraqi Federal Police Mosul's Old City Al-Nuri Mosque
  • Location: BAB JADID DISTRICT, SOUTH OLD CITY, MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: BAB JADID DISTRICT, SOUTH OLD CITY, MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016JG5B9J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The defensive lines of U.S.-backed Iraqi forces in Mosul were 150 metres away from Islamic State's positions in the Old City on Thursday (June 1), Iraqi federal police said.
    Iraqi forces advanced from all the directions towards the Old City in a bid to tighten noose over IS, as militants sealed off Mosul mosque preparing for last stand.
    Residents said dozens of fighters were seen taking up positions in the past 48 hours around the medieval mosque, the site where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in July 2014.
    Islamic State is putting tough resistance, carrying out repeated attacks in attempt to break Iraqi forces defences lines south of the Old City. Over the past few days, the militants ordered dozens of families living in the Zanjili district to move into the Old City to prevent them from escaping toward the Iraqi forces trying to advance from the northern side, a resident said.
    About a dozen civilians were wounded on Thursday by Islamic State mortar shells as they tried to escape from the Zanjili district held by the militants in Mosul.
    The Mosul offensive, now in its eighth month, has taken much longer than expected, with Iraqi government advances slowed by the need to avoid civilian casualties.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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