MOSCOW, December 20 (Sputnik) — Kurdish forces on Saturday retook Iraq’s northwestern town of Sinjar, as they proceed with their advances against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, a Sputnik Radio correspondent from Erbil reported.
Zaim Ali, the commander of peshmerga for Sinjar, Zumar and Mosul dam, told Sputnik Radio correspondent that “the remaining [IS] militants are retreating in panic and fleeing the war zone.”
The Peshmarga, battling the IS militants near Sinjar, are being aided by airstrikes and intelligence from US-led alliance forces, Bloomberg reported.
Peshmerga #Kurds break #ISIS siege in #MountSinjar #Iraq & US Airstrikes kill 3 Senior ISIS Leaders in #Mosul Iraq pic.twitter.com/Gv5IuTXwyZ
— Cindy Alvey USA (@cgowlvUSA) 20 декабря 2014
“The operation is being conducted under personal command of the Kurdistan region's president Massoud Barzani,” the peshmerga commander added.
The Islamic State is a Sunni jihadi group that launched an offensive in northern and western Iraq in June and announced the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control. Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, was also occupied by the group in June. Iraqi and Kurdish troops are preparing to recapture the city.
