IS kidnap 6 Iraqi officers in Mosul, police deploy snipers near key mosque
Federal police carry their weapons during a battle against Islamic State militants, at the entrance to the city of Dawasa in Mosul, Iraq, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTS11ISC
Saad al-Leithi, an officer at the Iraqi Federal Police service, was quoted by Anadolu Agency saying the six officers, including a brigadier general, were kidnapped from Bab al-Jadid district, an area which police said they recaptured a week earlier.
He said the officers were ambushed by IS militants during an incursion in the district. They ran out of ammunition and made futile calls for help, he added.
The development came as security troops continue to sweep through districts near the Old City, a strategic district which Iraqi commanders say is necessary to recapture to ensure victory against Islamic State in western Mosul.
The police command said over the past few days troops were approaching the Grand Nuri al-Kabir Mosque, an old mosque where Islamic State supreme leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a speech in 2014 to declare the establishment of the “Islamic Caliphate” rule in Iraq. Retaking of the mosque would be a remarkable, symbolic development in Iraqi troops’ operations against IS.
On Tuesday, Federal Police chief Shaker Jawdat said he had deployed tens of snipers above buildings near the mosque.
“Our forces have evacuated hundreds of civilians in order to isolate terrorist elements and deprive them of their human shields before invading the area and retaking control over the mosque,” Jawdat stated.
Iraqi forces recaptured eastern Mosul in January after three months of fighting, and launched another offensive in February to retake the west.