MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Kurdish militias, assisted by the US-led international coalition, launched an operation to reclaim the border town.
"There is an assumption that the operation will last from three to 10 days, and the Sinjara region would be freed… An important route has been cut off, the 47 route leading from Raqqa to Mosul [ISIL strongholds], therefore the Islamic State backbone would be broken," Khairi Elias Ali, Director General of Yezidi Affairs at the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, told a press conference in Moscow.
According to Elias Ali, some 20,000 fighters are taking part in the operation on the ground, including 7,500 Yezidis. The ground troops are being supported by F-15 and F-16 aircraft from the US-led coalition.
Yezidi is a national minority of Kurdish origin, living in northern Iraq.
