WATCH: IS member talks to Kurdistan24 in Mosul, pretending to be a civilian

Iraqi forces on Saturday arrested an Islamic State (IS) member in Old Mosul City after he talked to Kurdistan24 pretended to be a civilian fleeing from the jihadist group.
kurdistan24.net

MOSUL, Iraq (Kurdistan24) - Iraqi forces on Saturday arrested an Islamic State (IS) member in Old Mosul City after he talked to Kurdistan24, pretending to be a civilian fleeing from the jihadist group.

Kurdistan24 Correspondent Masoud Mohammed who is embedded with the Iraqi forces in the Old Mosul City interviewed a group of people fleeing IS during a live broadcast.

A young man with a Real Madrid t-shirt explained the situation to Kurdistan24, showing appreciation to his "rescuers."

"I am from near al-Nuri Mosque. The situation now is good. The heroic [Iraqi] counter-terrorism forces rescued us," he said, hoping to sneak out by joining the crowd.

He stated that it was the jihadist group that detonated the iconic Mosque of al-Nuri recently, not the Us airstrikes. Al-Nuri is one of the oldest mosques in Iraq in which the IS declared caliphate in mid-2014 following the emergence of the group in the country.

After the interview, the security forces took the interviewee for interrogation and later informed the Kurdistan24 Correspondent that he admitted to being an IS member. Security refused to give further information about him.

 

Iraqi forces also told Kurdistan24 that since Friday morning, they have captured five IS members who pretend to be escaping terrorists.

Thousands of civilians are currently trapped in the Old Mosul City which is still controlled by the IS.

IS emerged in Mosul in June 2014. The group occupied large swaths of territory in northern Iraq. Since then, it has lost most of the territory it controlled and continues to shrink as Iraqi forces advance in those areas.

 

Editing by Ava Homa