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WORLD NEWSSaturday 14 November 2015
Kurdish forces recapture militant-held towns in Iraq, Syria
SUSANNAH GEORGE
Associated Press
SINJAR, Iraq (AP) — Deal-
ing a double blow Friday
to the Islamic State group,
Iraqi Kurdish forces pushed
into the strategic town of
Sinjar in northern Iraq, and
a coalition of Arab, Chris-
tian and Kurdish rebel fac-
tions recaptured another
town from the militants
across the border in Syria.
The Kurdish forces raised
their flag in the center of
Sinjar, and a top official
said it was liberated, al-
though U.S. and Kurdish
military officials urged cau-
tion in declaring victory in
the major offensive.
The fighters encountered
little resistance, at least ini- By cutting the road, Iraqi
tially, suggesting that many
of the IS militants may have
pulled back in anticipation
of the advance. It was also
possible that they could
be biding their time before
striking back.
The offensive to retake Sin-
jar was launched Thursday
by the Kurdish militia fight- Kurdish Peshmerga fighters enter Sinjar, northern Iraq, after regaining control of the city rom the
ers known as the pesh-
merga forces, and they
succeeded in cutting a
key nearby highway and
retaking more than 150
square kilometers (about
60 square miles) of terri-
tory from the Islamic State
group. Airstrikes by a U.S.-
led coalition supported the
offensive, dubbed Opera-
tion Free Sinjar.
The Kurdistan Region Secu-
rity Council said 28 villages
were retaken from the Is-
lamic State and “more
than 300 terrorists were
killed by Peshmerga forces
and Coalition warplanes”
in the course of the two-
day operation.
and coalition officials said
the extremists will struggle
to maintain a flow of sup-
plies to Iraq’s second-larg-
est city, Mosul, which has
been under militant control
since June 2014. Without
direct access on Highway
47, the militants would
Islamic State group in a joint operation with coalition forces, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Iraqi Kurdish
militias battling to take back Sinjar from Islamic State militants raised a Kurdish flag and fired off
celebratory gunfire in the center of town, though U.S. and Kurdish officials cautioned that it was
too soon to declare victory in a major offensive to retake the strategic community.
(AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
have to travel off-road for Syria and Iraq. region, told fighters in Sinjar.
several hours to travel be- Sinjar has been under “It’s time for the Yazidi girls
tween their strongholds in the control of the self-de- to raise their heads up. Re-
scribed Islamic State group venge has been taken for
for more than a year. It was them.”
overrun by the extremists as Across the border in Syria,
they swept across Syria and a rebel coalition known
Iraq in August 2014, leading as the Democratic Forces
to the killing, enslavement of Syria seized the town of
and flight of thousands Hol in northern Hassakeh
from the Yazidi religious mi- province. The U.S.-backed
nority. offensive to retake IS-held
“We promised, we have areas in the southern parts
liberated Sinjar,” Massoud of Hassakeh is coinciding
Barzani, the president of the with the push to recapture
semi-autonomous Kurdish Sinjar.q
IS suicide blast, roadside bomb
hit Baghdad Shiites, killing 26
QASSIM ZAHRA declared caliphate.
Associated Press The suicide bomber struck
BAGHDAD (AP) — The Is- a memorial service held
lamic State group claimed for a Shiite militia fighter
responsibility for a sui- killed in battle against IS
cide blast and a roadside in the Iraqi capital’s south-
bombing that targeted western suburb of Hay al-
Shiites in Baghdad on Fri- Amal, a police official told
day, killing a total of 26 The Associated Press.
people and wounding That explosion killed 21
dozens. people and wounded at
The attacks came as Iraqi least 46, he said.
Kurdish militias, backed by The militia fighter was killed
U.S. airstrikes, seized the in battle against the mili-
town of Sinjar from the Is- tant group in Iraq’s west-
lamic State group in a ern Anbar province, the
major blow to the extrem- official added.
ists. Following its blitz last Also Friday in Baghdad, a
year, the IS — which splin- roadside bomb detonat-
tered off from Iraq’s al-Qa- ed at a Shiite shrine in Sadr
ida branch — now holds City, killing at least five
about a third of Iraq and people and wounding 15,
neighboring Syria in its self- police officials said. q