Their presence on the streets also was confirmed by Khasro Goran, the Nineveh deputy governor.
Mosul is the capital of Nineveh province and is the largest city in northern Iraq.
Nineveh has Iraq's largest minority of Christians, themselves divided into various sects, some speaking Aramaic, the language of Christ.
In Nineveh, which has a strong Sunni Arab, Kurdish and Christian presence, a Sunni Arab list called al-Hadba'a won 48.8 percent.
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He was expected to suggest that Iraq's government reconsider a recent decision to delay provincial elections in Anbar and Nineveh provinces.
And Hertling said Nineveh -- home of the country's third-largest city, Mosul -- is an important geographic region because it borders Syria.
Iraq -- a cradle of ancient civilization -- is the home of such fabled cities such as Ur, Babylon, Kabala and Nineveh.
Iraqi and American forces have been engaged in an offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.
The military said the operation "follows Lightning Hammer I ... to deny al Qaeda safe haven in the provinces" of Salaheddin, Nineveh, Diyala, and Kirkuk.
Another two Marines and three civilians also were wounded in the attack, which occurred in Baaj, in the northern province of Nineveh, the military said.
One Task Force Lightning soldier died and another soldier was injured in the incident, which occurred in Nineveh province, where Mosul and Tal Afar are located.
In Nineveh, a key swing province in northern Iraq, 55 percent voted "no" -- below the two-thirds threshold that would have resulted in the measure's defeat.
Casmoussa was outside a private residence on a main road in al-Muhendisin, in Mosul, when he was abducted Monday, said Kahsro Goran, deputy governor of Nineveh province.
Nineveh Deputy Gov. Khasro Goran said the number has since risen to 2, 000, based on the most recent figures from Nineveh's office of Immigration and Displaced Persons.
Mesopotamia created urban culture: Ur, Babylon, Nineveh and countless lesser-known sites are where humans first worked out ways to live together in close quarters in large numbers.
Many Iraqis have already registered to vote, but in parts of the troubled Nineveh and Al Anbar provinces, voters will register and cast their ballot at the same time.
Raging below are the roiling contours of the fierce seas God has created to punish the prophet for defying a divine order to preach in the sinful city of Nineveh.
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The Christians have been hammered, in Nineveh as in the rest of Iraq: their numbers throughout the country are said to be down from 800, 000 in 2003 to around 250, 000 today.
Perhaps the biggest and currently the scratchiest division is between Arabs and Kurds, who control most of the east and north of Nineveh, and account for about one-third of its population.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Insurgents fired a mortar round Thursday into the office of Nineveh's provincial governor as American and Iraqi forces attempted to restore order in Mosul, the U.S. military said.
The Syrian soldiers who were killed in Iraq last week reportedly entered through the Yaarubiyeh border in the northern Nineveh province over the weekend of 2-3 March after Syrian rebels attacked them.
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In a sign of concern over the security situation, the cabinet announced that it was delaying elections scheduled for 20 April in the provinces of Anbar and Nineveh by up to six months.
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