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Iraqi cameraman killed, reporter wounded in IS rocket attack near Mosul

Xinhua, July 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

An Iraqi TV cameraman was killed and a reporter of a local TV wounded on Wednesday in a rocket attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in south of the IS stronghold in Mosul in northern Iraq, an Iraqi media freedom watchdog said.

Ali Mahmoud, who works for al-Ghadeer satellite channel, was killed at noon when a rocket struck their position in the newly-freed village of Ich'hala in south of the IS-held town of Qayyara, some 50 km south of Mosul, the Iraqi Observatory for Press Freedoms (IOPF) said in a statement.

The rocket blast also left Ali Jawad, a reporter for the state-run Iraqiya channel, seriously wounded at the scene, the statement said.

The incident occurred while the two media workers were covering the battles against the IS in south of Mosul, as the troops managed the day before from recapturing the villages of Ich'hala and Imam in the south of Qayyara. IOPF said.

The recapture of the villages was seen as significant progress, as the troops severed the supply routes to two towns held by the IS militants in northern Iraq

By retaking control of the two villages on the west side of Tigris River, the troops have cut off the IS supply routes from Mosul to IS-held Shirqat, a town about 30 km south of Mosul, and Hawijah, a town located some 45 km southeast of Shirqat, the source said.

The security forces plan to seize other villages on the east bank of the river to encircle the militants, the source added.

The latest death of cameraman on Wednesday brings the death toll of journalists in the country to seven so far in 2016.

Earlier, a report made by the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate said that a total of 14 journalists were killed in violence-ridden Iraq in 2015.

Iraq has been hit by a new wave of violence since the IS terrorist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S. that invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003. Endit