Kurdish journalist killed, French journalists wounded covering IS battle in Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Kurdish journalist on Monday was killed by a roadside bomb explosion while covering the Iraqi military operation against the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul.

Bakhtiyar Haddad, a Kurdish journalist working as a translator for France 2 TV, was killed in a bomb explosion in Mosul’s Old City, while three French journalists were wounded.

The French journalists working for France 2 were reportedly identified as Samuel Forey, Stephane Villeneuve, and Véronique Robert.

Two of them are in critical condition and are receiving treatment at a US base in the town of Qayyara, southern Ninevah Province. 

The Iraqi security forces on Sunday launched a new offensive against the last Islamic State (IS) stronghold in the city of Mosul.

A team of France 2 had arrived in Kurdistan Region two weeks ago to cover the fighting in Mosul; Bakhtiyar Haddad has been accompanying them as a translator and fixer.

On February 26, 2017, an IED explosion also killed a prominent female news reporter and presenter who worked for the Kurdish channel Rudaw, Shifa Gardi.

Gardi was covering an offensive by Iraqi security forces against the IS extremists in west Mosul.

Editing by A. H.