.jpg)
KT News:
Peshmarga fighter on Mount Zartak
Peshmerga forces made an important strategic advance yesterday by recapturing Mount Zartak in a battle that left more than 30 ‘Islamic State’ (IS) gunmen dead.
The mountain overlooks the Nineveh province plain stretching to Mosul. IS terrorists who recently occupied nearby villages are now within reach of Kurdish firepower.
Peshmarga spokesmen said US airstrikes had contributed to the successful advance which strengthens the basis for an offensive, in combination with Iraqi forces, to drive IS out of Mosul. Peshmarga commando commander, Gene Aziz Oweisi, told the BBC: “For the Iraqis it’s important too because it’s a step towards taking back Mosul”. Kurdistan Regional President, Masud Barzani, travelled yesterday to visit the victorious Pershmarga forces.
Kurdish and Iraqi forces are advancing in Nineveh province, with their sights set on encircling Mosul from the north, west and east. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, was seized by IS in a lightening offensive in June. “The Iraqi and Kurdish forces are advancing slowly into the district of Hamdaniya. The key purpose of this operation is to secure the return of minorities to their villages, especially to the Christians, Turkmens and Yazidi Kurds. The morale of IS militants is low as many of them have been killed, including their top commanders,” Bapier Suleiman, a member of the Kurdish Parliament Peshmarga Committee told Fars News.
Yesterday the US conducted its first airstrikes in Iraq’s Anbar province, aimed at protecting the Haditha dam from IS attacks, reports Bloomberg. Haditha is Iraq’s second-largest dam. Last month US airstrikes assisted Kurdish and Iraqi forces in dislodging IS from control of Iraq’s largest dam, outside Mosul. The two dams together provide much of Iraq’s electricity and water.
By next 9 months, South Kurdistan will be independent.