raqi Kurdish Bakhtiyar Haddad (L) and French journalist Stephan Villeneuve killed by Islamic State mine in Mosul June 19, 2017. Photo: Ekurd.net/FB/Linkenin
MOSUL,— An Iraqi Kurdish journalist and a French journalist were killed and two other French reporters were wounded after a mine exploded in Mosul, where they were covering an advance by Iraqi forces against Islamic State militants, French media reported on Monday.
The television network said Iraqi Kurdish journalist Bakhtiyar Haddad was killed and three reporters, Veronique Robert and Stephane Villeneuve, were wounded and taken to a U.S. military hospital in northern Iraq.
Stephan Villeneuve later succumbed to his injuries, public broadcaster France Televisions said Tuesday.
Local Kurdish media had earlier reported the incident saying the French journalists were being treated at the U.S. base in the Iraqi town of Qayyara.
Islamic State fighters have been defending their remaining stronghold in the Old City of Mosul, moving stealthily along narrow back alleys as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces slowly advance.
The historic district, and a tiny area to its north, are the only parts of the city still under the militants’ control. Mosul used to be the Iraqi capital of the group, also known as ISIS.
On February 25, journalist and presenter for Kurdish Rudaw TV Shifa Gerdi was also killed as she was covering the Mosul operation.
(With files from Reuters | AFP | NRT)