Image copyright Rudaw Image caption Shifa Gardi was reporting live on the day she was killed

A Kurdish reporter has been killed while covering on the battle for Mosul in Iraq.

Shifa Gardi, who worked for Iraqi Kurdish channel Rudaw, was killed by a roadside bomb as she covered the advance of Iraqi forces into western areas held by so-called Islamic State.

Rudaw said that Gardi, 30, had broken the stereotypes of male-dominated journalism.

Iraqi forces continue to face stiff resistance from IS as they advance.

The Iraqi troops entered western districts of Mosul for the first time on Friday as part of an offensive begun in October to drive the jihadists from their main stronghold.

'Daring journalist'

Rudaw said that Gardi's cameraman, Yunis Mustafa, was injured in the explosion.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Quentin Sommerville has this week been embedded with Iraq's forces in Mosul

Gardi had been presenting a daily programme on the Mosul offensive for Rudaw TV and had recently started to cover the war from inside Mosul, the channel said on its website.

After paying tribute to her, Rudaw recalled the recent incident where Gardi had found a wounded rabbit.

"The rabbit is suffering from malnutrition which has caused visible damage to its face. 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 said.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Iraqi forces press on towards western districts

Iraqi forces continue to face stiff resistance from IS fighters bunkered in western districts.

Special forces Lt Gen Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi told Associated Press his soldiers were "moving very slowly" in the face of attacks with car bombs, snipers and armed drones.

He said the plan was to cut supply lines and link up with eastern districts that Iraqi forces declared "fully liberated" last month.

IS jihadists overran Mosul as they spread across much of northern and western Iraq in 2014.

They lost large areas of territory, in Iraq and Syria, in 2016.</s>Rudaw channel says roadside bomb explosion kills its reporter Shifa Gardi and wounds cameraman Younis Mustafa.

A female reporter working for an Iraqi Kurdish channel was killed in a roadside bomb attack while covering clashes between government forces and ISIL in Mosul, her channel said.

Killed on Saturday, 30-year-old Shifa Gardi was a presenter and chief of output at Rudaw, a media group in Kurdistan funded by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

"Prominent Rudaw war reporter and journalist Shifa Gardi has been killed in Mosul as she covered clashes," Rudaw said on social media. "Rudaw loses one of its most prominent journalists in Mosul today."

"[She] was killed on Saturday in a roadside bomb explosion in Mosul," a statement posted to Rudaw's website said. "Gardi was one of Rudaw’s most daring journalists."

Her cameraman, Younis Mustafa, was also wounded in the attack.

On February 21, Gardi saved a wounded rabbit in the village of Albu Saif, the channel said, citing the moment she returned to the newsroom with the animal in her arms.

The operation to retake Iraq's second-largest city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) was officially launched in October last year, and in January its eastern half was declared "fully liberated".

Mosul is ISIL's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, but the battle to retake its western half is expected to be the most challenging yet, since the streets are older, narrower and is densely populated with an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped in the area.</s>A TV journalist covering the battle to retake Mosul from occupying ISIS fighters was killed by a roadside bomb Saturday, Rudaw TV said.

Shifa Gardi, 30, was killed and her cameraman was injured, the Kurdish media organization said in a statement. It’s the first recorded killing of a journalist in Iraq in 2017, the Committee to Protect Journalists said; at least six were killed in the country last year.

“Shifa Gardi was one of Rudaw’s most daring journalists,” Rudaw Media Network said. “She was known as a renowned skilled journalist in Kurdish news media, and brought outstanding coverage to Rudaw TV right from the beginning of its establishment.”

Gardi’s death comes amid an offensive by Iraqi forces to recapture the western section of Mosul from the terror group ISIS, which seized the northern Iraqi city in 2014.

In November, Iraqi forces entered the city for the first time since it was seized, and on Feb. 19 Iraqi forces launched an offensive to drive ISIS from the western section of the city.

Rudaw Executive Director Ako Mohamm told colleagues that Gardi “was an example of dedication.”

“We were always urging them to be behind the frontlines of the war, telling them that they were not soldiers or Peshmerga fighters,” Ako said, according to Rudaw.

“It appears that Shifa had moved closer to the frontlines out of seriousness to her job,” Ako said according to the network. “We are saddened by the passing of Shifa. Her place will remain irreplaceable in Rudaw, but she will always stay in our hearts.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq was among those who expressed condolences to Gardi’s family and friends Saturday. The agency called her a “young, caring professional.” U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman also expressed his deep condolences. Brett McGurk, U.S. presidential envoy for the coalition to counter ISIS, said on Twitter: “She was everything ISIS fears: a journalist exposing their lies.”

“Shifa Gardi’s tragic death underscores the continuing risk that journalists in Iraq face while doing their jobs,” Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Journalists covering Iraq, and particularly those covering the ongoing conflict between the Iraqi government and the Islamic State group, have shown remarkable bravery and commitment to their work, and all sides in the conflict should honor that commitment by ensuring that they can do their jobs safely,” he said.

Iraq’s government said Thursday that its forces retook Mosul airport, which had been used as an ISIS training camp and car bomb factory, according to state TV.

Related: Iraq Air Force Bombs ISIS in Syria for First Time

Iraqi forces pushed father into the western section Saturday, Reuters reported. About 1,000 civilians walked across the frontlines, the largest movement since the new offensive was launched, the news agency said.

Some 750,000 civilians had been estimated to be in the western part of the city when last week’s offensive began, according to the United Nations. Mosul had been called ISIS’ capital in Iraq, although its stronghold is in the Syrian city of Raqqa.</s>A female war reporter in Iraq was killed today by a bomb blast.

Shifa Gardi was covering the fight against ISIS in Mosul for Iraqi Kurdish channel Rudaw.

The channel said: 'Prominent Rudaw war reporter and journalist Shifa Gardi has been killed in Mosul as she covered clashes.'

'Journalism remains male-dominated - Shifa Gardi broke those perceptions and stereotypes - we pay tribute to her courageous journalism.'

Rudaw editors said she was killed by an explosive device on a road in west Mosul which wounded her cameraman.

He was transferred to Arbil, the nearby capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region where the channel is headquartered.

Iraqi forces entered neighbourhoods of the west bank of Mosul on Friday for the first since the start on October 17 in a huge offensive to retake the city from ISIS.

Special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi said that his troops are 'moving very slowly' and that IS fighters are responding with car bombs, snipers and dozens of armed drones. Hundreds of civilian have fled the conflict zone.

The drones have caused relatively few deaths, but have inflicted dozens of light injuries that have disrupted the pace of ground operations.

Al-Saadi said he expects the pace to increase after Iraqi forces retake territory and infrastructure on Mosul's southwestern edge - which will allow them to shorten supply lines and link up with forces in the city's east.

On the edge of a small village south of Mosul, dozens of families gathered against a crude cinderblock wall. Many said they were from villages outside Mosul and had been forced to march to the city more than four months ago to serve as human shields.

'We've been through terrible times,' said Juri Fathi, a mother of six who was forced to live in a school in Mosul for three months. 'I had to burn my children's clothing just for warmth.'

Groups of men were screened at the site against a database of IS suspects and two prisoners were dragged past the crowd and into an abandoned building.

'We brought them directly from inside Mosul,' said an Iraqi special forces solider from inside the Humvee that delivered the detainees. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. 'They were shooting at us, I saw them with my own eyes,' he said.

Iraqi forces declared eastern Mosul 'fully liberated' in January after officially launching the operation to retake the city in October.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Foreign Minister was in Baghdad on Saturday - the first high level visit of a Saudi official to the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion - to meet with his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, al-Jaafari said the visit was to discuss cooperation in combating terrorism, adding: 'The ties that bind are many, and the visit comes to restore bilateral relations to their correct course.'

The statement also called on Saudi Arabia to reiterate its position against Turkish ground troops in Iraq.

About a thousand civilians, mostly women and children, walked out of southwestern parts of Mosul on Saturday and climbed into military trucks taking them to camps further south.

The United Nations says up to 400,000 people may have to leave their homes during the new offensive as food and fuel runs out in western Mosul. Aid groups warned on Friday that the most dangerous phase of the offensive was about to begin.</s>A female reporter working for Iraqi Kurdish channel Rudaw was killed by the explosion of a roadside bomb Saturday during fighting between government forces and jihadists in Mosul, her channel said.

"Prominent Rudaw war reporter and journalist Shifa Gardi has been killed in Mosul as she covered clashes," Rudaw said on social media.

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

Rudaw editors told AFP that the 30-year-old reporter, who was born a refugee in Iran, was killed by an explosive device on a road in west Mosul and said that the cameraman working with her was wounded.

He was transferred to Arbil, the nearby capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region where the channel is headquartered.

Iraqi forces entered neighbourhoods of the west bank of Mosul on Friday for the first since the start on October 17 of a huge offensive to retake the city from the Islamic State group.

Gardi was the second journalist to die covering the Mosul offensive, in the first days of which a young Iraqi reporter for Al Sumaria TV, Ali Raysan, was also killed.

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.

"Shifa Gardi was one of Rudaw's most daring journalist," the channel said in a statement.

She had recently started presenting a daily show on the Mosul offensive, the early stages of which Kurdish peshmerga forces took part in.

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.</s>Kurdish journalist was killed by a roadside bomb blast while covering the Iraqi forces' push against ISIL in Mosul.

Politicians, journalists and members of the public have joined together in mourning after news of the death of Shifa Gardi, the Iraqi Kurdish TV journalist killed in a roadside bomb blast while covering clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIL in Mosul.

Rudaw, Gardi's employer, on Sunday posted images showing the 30-year-old journalist's burial place in Erbil, praising her as someone "who cracked the glass ceiling" with her coverage of the operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The hashtag #ShifaGardi also trended on social media, with many paying tributes, expressing condolences and sharing photos of Rudaw's presenter and chief of output.

"She joins a list of irreplaceable people lost in this war," Talabani said.

Inside the Erbil-based headquarters of Rudaw, a media group in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, photos and bouquet of flowers were placed at Gardi's empty desk.

"Shifa was not only a smart journalist, but also a very serious and loyal person," Ako Mohammed, executive director of Rudaw, was quoted as telling a crowd who had gathered to pay respect to her body outside the network's offices on Saturday.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Gardi's death "underscores the continuing risk the journalists in Iraq face while doing their jobs".

Robert Mahoney, the CPJ deputy executive director, said journalists covering the conflict in Iraq "have shown remarkable bravery and commitment to their work, and all sides in the conflict should honour that commitment by ensuring that they can do their jobs safely".

Namo Abdulla, Washington bureau chief of Rudaw, wrote on social media that the slain journalist was a "great friend and colleague".

At least two #Peshmarga soldiers have named their newborn babies "Shifa," to honor our daring journalist Shifa Gardi.

Gardi's cameraman, Younis Mustafa, was also wounded in Saturday's blast.

Gardi was presenting a daily special programme on the Mosul offensive.

On February 21, while covering the operation, Gardi saved a wounded rabbit in the village of Albu Saif, Rudaw said, citing the moment she returned to the newsroom with the animal in her arms.

The military operation to retake Iraq's second-largest city from ISIL was launched in October last year, and in January its eastern half was declared "fully liberated".

Mosul is ISIL's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, but the battle to retake its western half is expected to be the most challenging yet, since the streets are older, narrower and it is densely populated with an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped in the area.</s>A reporter and anchor for an Iraqi Kurdish TV station was killed Saturday while working on the front lines as Iraqi forces battle ISIS for the city of Mosul. Shifa Gardi, 30, a beloved journalist in a male-dominated profession, died in a roadside bomb blast that also injured her cameraman, Younis Mustafa, according to her employer, Rudaw.

Start the conversation, or Read more at KXLY-TV Spokane.</s>A female reporter working for an Iraqi Kurdish television channel was killed by the explosion of a roadside bomb February 25 during fighting between government troops and Islamic State militants in Mosul.

The Rudaw news organization said in a statement that 30-year-old Shifa Gerdi, a presenter for Rudaw, was killed in a bomb attack, and cameraman Younis Mustafa was injured on the outskirts of Mosul. 

 

 She was presenting a daily special program on the Mosul offensive when the explosion occurred.

Several journalists have been injured in the Mosul operation, and an Iraqi television journalist, Ali Raysan, was killed covering the battle in October. 

 

 Iraq is one of the world's most-dangerous places for journalists. It was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP</s>Iraqi troops advance towards Mosul's southern neighbourhood of Jawasaq on February 24, 2017 during an ongoing offensive to retake the northern city from jihadists of the Islamic State group Iraqi forces entered west Mosul neighbourhoods, a key stronghold in the shrinking "caliphate" of the Islamic State group, which replied with deadly suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria. The elite Counter-Terrorism Service that did most of the fighting in the four-month-old Mosul offensive entered a neighbourhood further west along the city's southern limits. (AFP Photo/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

Baghdad (AFP) - A female reporter working for Iraqi Kurdish channel Rudaw was killed by the explosion of a roadside bomb Saturday during fighting between government forces and jihadists in Mosul, her channel said.

"Prominent Rudaw war reporter and journalist Shifa Gardi has been killed in Mosul as she covered clashes," Rudaw said on social media.

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

Rudaw editors told AFP that the 30-year-old reporter, who was born a refugee in Iran, was killed by an explosive device on a road in west Mosul and said that the cameraman working with her was wounded.

He was transferred to Arbil, the nearby capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region where the channel is headquartered.

Iraqi forces entered neighbourhoods of the west bank of Mosul on Friday for the first since the start on October 17 of a huge offensive to retake the city from the Islamic State group.

Gardi was the second journalist to die covering the Mosul offensive, in the first days of which a young Iraqi reporter for Al Sumaria TV, Ali Raysan, was also killed.

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.

"Shifa Gardi was one of Rudaw's most daring journalist," the channel said in a statement.

She had recently started presenting a daily show on the Mosul offensive, the early stages of which Kurdish peshmerga forces took part in.

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.</s>Shifa Gardi, a 30-year-old presenter and chief of output at Rudaw, was covering the fight between Daesh and Iraqi government forces as Iraq wrests control from the city back from terrorists. She was presenting a special daily program on the Mosul offensive for Rudaw TV, and had recently started to cover the conflict from inside the embattled city, Rudaw said.

Cameraman Younis Mustafa was also injured in the attack.

In a statement on her death, Rudaw called Gardi one of their "most daring journalists."

Yesterday, Gardi had been searching for a reported mass grave where Daesh was said to have buried hundreds of civilians. An armed paramilitary group she and her team encountered told them they knew where the grave site was. The bomb exploded as the two groups were searching near the gravesite, killing Gardi as well as five members of the paramilitary force and injuring another eight, her network reports.

President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani called Gardi a role model for Kurdish women.

"Her death reiterates the role, position, sacrifice and resilience of women and proud youth of Kurdistan's nation. On this sad occasion, I direct my condolences to the family of Ms Gardi, her colleagues at Rudaw Media Network and Kurdistan's journalists as a whole. May she rest in peace," he said in a statement.

Many supporters and colleagues also commented on Gardi's work in what remains a male-dominated field in Iraq and the Middle East in general.

Gardi is the first journalist to be killed this year, but the 179th to have been killed in Iraq since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Six were killed there last year.

Gardi, born Shifa Zikri Ibrahim, was born a refugee in Iran, Rudaw reported. She began working in media in 2006.

Rudaw is funded by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Shifa Gardi, a prominent female reporter for Rudaw Media Network, is killed by a roadside bomb while reporting on the battle for Mosul.