2 journalists injured while covering Mosul clashes

By Omer Erdem

MOSUL, Iraq (AA) - Two journalists were injured Saturday while covering an ongoing offensive to oust Daesh terrorists from Iraq’s northern city of Mosul.

Local freelancers Yunus Mohammed and Rasul Gavhari were injured while covering clashes between Daesh terrorists and Iraqi forces in the Daesh-held city, local sources said.

Gavhari lost his left eye, while Mohammad’s injury was not life-threatening, the sources added anonymously due to security concerns.

Last week, the Iraqi army, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a much-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

Journalists covering the anti-Daesh offensive often get caught in the military operations aimed to clear the terrorists from the city.

On Friday, a Turkmen news broadcaster was killed by Daesh gunmen in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk while covering a string of recent Daesh attacks in the city.

Daesh captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in mid-2014 before overrunning large swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and a U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory. Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.