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Kurds Release Video of Iraq Prison Rescue


A video image from a helmet camera shows U.S. and Iraqi special forces freeing hostages from a prison controlled by Islamic State militants in the town of Huwija, 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Oct. 22, 2015.
A video image from a helmet camera shows U.S. and Iraqi special forces freeing hostages from a prison controlled by Islamic State militants in the town of Huwija, 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Oct. 22, 2015.

A video posted online Sunday reportedly shows the joint U.S. and peshmerga raid on an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq last week that freed 69 hostages.

In the two-minute video taken from a helmet-mounted camera and shared by the Kurdistan Regional Security Council, several commandos in uniform are seen leading a group of men quickly between rooms as non-stop gunfire crackles nearby.

A man can be heard shouting in Arabic “hurry!” repeatedly as soldiers escort dozens of prisoners to safety inside the compound.

WATCH: Video of raid


Iraqi Security Force members were among the hostages freed from the prison in Hawijah, west of Kirkuk.

The KRSC said on Thursday that six Islamic State militants were detained and 20 were killed in the operation.

One U.S. service member, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, was killed during the raid, marking the first known fatality for American forces on the ground during U.S.-led operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Both U.S. and Kurdish officials said the rescue operation was carried out as the prisoners faced “imminent” executions.

"We’ve now heard from rescued hostages they expected to be executed that day after morning prayers," U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday. "Their graves had already been prepared.”

WATCH: The destruction of the hospital after the raid

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