The government of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region on Sunday released footage it said was of the brazen commando operation it carried out with elite USA troops at a jihadist-run prison.
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The pulse-pounding clip, released Saturday by the Kurdistan Regional Security Council, begins with a barrage of gunfire, as soldiers start clearing out the darkened hell hole and leading apparent hostages outside, as a fire rages outside a window.
The mission saw dozens of barefoot hostages in red-stained gowns come out of the building suspected to be a prison where the Islamic State forces keep their hostages.
A few hostages had blood on their clothing, and were walking and running in single file as soldiers beckoned them through rooms in the raid in northern Iraq.
One American died in the raid.
Soldiers are also seen moving around in a dark office in which a huge black-and-white ISIS flag hangs at the far end.
“Hold that guy there”, says one voice with an American accent.
According to the KRSC, the operation was carried out by 48 Kurdish and 27 U.S. forces and resulted in the release of “69 hostages” and killing of more than 20 IS members.
US Special Forces and Kurdish fighters stormed the compound on Thursday in a mission to rescue hostages believed to be in danger of execution.
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The daring raid on the makeshift terrorist prison, a joint operation between US Delta Force and Kurdish forces, happened on Thursday in Hawija, 15km west of the city of Kirkuk, The Guardian reports.
