Slain journalist Shifa Gardi was 'a force to be reckoned with'

Kurdish reporter Shifa Gardi was killed today as she reported on the Iraqi army's battle to recapture Mosul. ITV News correspondent Duncan Golestani helped train the 30-year-old.

Four years ago I went to northern Iraq to help train journalists for a new television news channel - Rudaw.

Over the course of a year we taught many bright young men and women who wanted to go out and give a Kurdish perspective on the world.

One of those who stood out was Shifa Gardi. You couldn't help but notice Shifa: she was sharp, beautiful and very determined.

Hundreds of hopefuls were given training but few knew what roles they might be end up taking. There was no doubt Shifa was going to be in front of the camera.

Always charming, she used her broken English to win us over. One of her many endearing habits was to sidle up next to us when she wasn't happy with the story she had been given and refer to herself in the third person.

"This story is no good for Shifa," she would say with wounded eyes. It was obvious she was going to be force to be reckoned with.

It is so desperately sad that she should lose her life to a roadside bomb, yet another journalist killed in Iraq.

A lot of the footage we see from the front lines in the fight against so-called Islamic State comes from Rudaw TV - look out for the 'R' in the corner of the screen.

The channel's cameramen and reporters are incredibly daring in the face of overwhelming danger, none more so than Shifa.