(MENAFN- The Peninsula) MOSUL: A French journalist has succumbed to wounds he sustained in a landmine explosion in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, according to the French consulate in Erbil.
Stephane Villeneuve was injured by a landmine explosion on Monday while covering anti-IS operations in western Mosul. An Iraqi journalist was killed and two French journalists were also injured in the blast.
According to the Iraqi Observatory for Press Freedom, an NGO, a total of seven journalists have been killed -- and 11 injured -- within the first half of 2017 alone.
Most of these were reportedly killed while covering clashes between the army and the IS terrorist group, which overran Mosul in mid-2014.
On Sunday, Iraqi forces began fresh operations aimed at retaking Mosul's Old City, a densely-populated maze of narrow alleys where fighting is usually done house to house.
Backed by air cover provided by a U.S.-led coalition, the Iraqi military is currently engaged in a months-long campaign to recapture Mosul, Islamic State's last stronghold in northern Iraq.
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