Source: Rudaw Kurmanci

A LOCAL KURDISH news organisation says one of their presenters was killed covering the Mosul operation and another of their journalists was wounded.

The Rudaw news organisation says Shifa Gardi, a presenter and head of output for Rudaw, was killed in a bomb attack and cameraman Younis Mustafa was injured on the outskirts of Mosul in a statement to the Associated Press today.

The 30-year-old was presenting a daily special programme on the Mosul offensive, and a statement of condolences on Rudaw’s website described her as one of the organisation’s “most daring journalists”.

“Journalism remains male-dominated – Shifa Gardi broke those perceptions and stereotypes - we pay tribute to her courageous journalism,” the channel said.

A number of journalists have been injured in the Mosul operation and in October an Iraqi television journalist was killed covering the battle.

Ranked 158th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2016 World Press Freedom Index, Iraq is one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists.

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Rudaw posted a picture on their website of Gardi holding a rabbit she found wounded while on assignment south of Mosul earlier this week.

“I brought it back with me. We will be treating the rabbit and then give it to an animal protection agency which is willing to look after it,” she was quoted as saying.

Recapturing Mosul

The latest push to retake Mosul, the second city and the last stronghold of the jihadists in Iraq, was launched on Sunday and involves thousands of security personnel.

Almost a week into a major push on the city’s west bank, they were gaining significant ground, taking on IS on several fronts in one of the most intense phases of the four-month-old operation to seize the city.

Elite forces from the interior ministry’s Rapid Response units that retook Mosul airport pressed north towards the centre of the city but their advance was expected to slow as they moved in deeper.

There are an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped on the city’s west bank, with living conditions for civilians fast deteriorating and food supplies dwindling; forcing many families to survive on just one meal a day.

With reporting from - © AFP, 2017