DÉFENSE ZONE
At the height of the Battle of Mosul, Patrick Chauvel follows Iraqi and Kurdish forces in an urban war where every advance comes at a heavy price. From Bashiqa to the booby-trapped alleys of the city, his pictures tell the story of a month of fighting, losses and survival, as close as possible to the soldiers and civilians caught up in the reconquest.
A month alongside the fighters
When the offensive to retake Mosul began in October 2016, the battle promised to be long, methodical and exceptionally brutal. On the ground, war reporter Patrick Chauvel spent a month documenting the advance of Iraqi and Kurdish forces against the Islamic State. His days generally began in Erbil, still spared by the conflict, before he headed to the front lines, where any street could become a trap. After lengthy negotiations, he managed to stay for several days right alongside the fighters, without official embed status, sleeping with the soldiers and sharing their daily uncertainty.
Mines, improvised explosive devices and deadly tunnels
The first victories took shape north-east of the city, around Bashiqa, retaken by the Peshmerga. But as the coalition advanced towards Mosul, the fighting intensified. The Golden Division — an elite Iraqi unit — led the way, in an urban environment saturated with mines, booby traps and tunnels. An infiltration from the rear wounded Chauvel’s fixer, hit by grenade fragments. The army did not always secure what it left behind, and the enemy sometimes emerged from the ground. “Everything was booby-trapped”, the photojournalist sums up, “even the roads we had used the day before could be mined during the night”. Among the most striking pictures, one shows a tank driver collapsed in tears after the death of his commander, killed by a bullet to the head outside the armoured vehicle.
Read the rest in Défense Zone #21.
Further reading
Discover our profile and book review of Patrick Chauvel and his books in the war reporters collection — and follow our news.
