Evidence of ferocious fighting at liberated Mosul Dam

By John Ray: Diplomatic Correspondent at Mosul Dam

We have arrived at Mosul Dam.

Victorious Kurdish Peshmerga forces told us that the fighting to retake the dam was tough and that Islamic State militants defending it were "brave and well armed."

Around the dam there is a great deal of evidence of a ferocious fight. At the gates of the compound there are piles of spent cartridges from high calibre weapons. There are burnt out vehicles used by the Jihadists across the area.

Several buildings entirely collapsed after being hit by US airstrikes; looks like precision targeting by the Americans.

For all the destruction around the dam, the structure itself seems to be fully intact - I've only seen one crater from a missile in the road along the top of the dam.

On the way we've past 15 miles of wrecked cars and smashed up buildings, evidence of the fierce three day fight here.

The area appears to be in complete control of Kurdish Peshmerga. We also saw some Shia militia fighters from Iraq.

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