(2 Mar 2017) LEADIN:
More than 300 counter terrorism soldiers have graduated in Baghdad.
The men are part of Iraq's Counter Terrorism Forces which are battling the Islamic State group in Mosul.
STORYLINE:
It's a full house for the graduation of the latest cohort of Iraqi Counter Terrorism soldiers.
Officers from the international coalition are attending the ceremony too - troops from the US and other countries helped to support and train the Iraqis.
Three hundred and forty eight soldiers are graduating at the Counter Terrorism Forces' (CTF) headquarters in Baghdad.
This branch of the military and its elite units have a major role in the operation against the Islamic State group in Mosul - they are the troops fighting the extremists in street battles.
It's a task Lieutenant General Taleb Shaghati, Head of Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces, pays tribute to during the ceremony.
"The heroes of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces have conducted heroic epics in the eastern side of Mosul in order to get rid of Daesh (Islamic State group) and to purify the beloved Mosul territories from the profanity of terrorism," he tells those in attendance.
The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces, the country's elite special-forces contingent, and members of federal police forces have liberated the eastern half of the city since the operation launched in October 2017.
The new graduates are keen to join the fight against the militant group.
"We will rip out the last member of Daesh and will not leave any terrorist in this country," says one of the soldiers, Ali Mahmoud Zaidan.
These soldiers will face violence, danger and fighting during their military careers.
But graduation day is a time for celebration before that begins.
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