Kurdish Peshmerga purging ISIL from Iraqi territories
Iraqi Kurdish fighters have extended their control over a large territory north of the country after pushing the ISIL terrorists further away from the city of Kirkuk, Press TV reports.
In recent weeks, the Kurdish Peshmerga has taken back some 85 square kilometers of territory from ISIL.
“We are repelling ISIL’s advance here. These are Kurdish regions, but we are not occupying forces, but [rather] defensive units protecting all the different religious and ethnic groups living here, said Saleh Amine, a field commander of Peshmerga fighters.
The recent advances by kurds come on the heels of the very strategic liberation of Tikrit and also the operations in Anbar by the Iraqi armed forces. Capitalizing on the Iraqi forces' advance, the Kurds are widening the buffer zone separating them from ISIL. They have also retaken oil fields on the outskirts of Kirkuk.
The commander-in-chief of Kirkuk’s border guards told Press TV that ISIL militants have been pushed backed some 45 kilometers closer to Mosul.
"The Kurdish Peshmerga are currently in full control of the outskirts of Kirkuk. We are cooperating with Kurdish troops to maintain security there. When the ISIL first captured Mosul, they advanced to regions 10 kilometers from Kirkuk but right now they are 55 kilometers away from the city,” said Fakhreddine Saeed.
“Previously the morale of the ISIL terrorists was very high; now their stance seems to be withering,” he said.
In recent weeks, Kurds have taken some towns and villages south and southwest of Kirkuk from the ISIL. This as the terror group has clearly directed its military efforts at Salahuddin and Anbar provinces.
With the battles raging on in Anbar and the ongoing cleansing operation by the Iraqi security forces in Salahuddin, it seems that the Kurdish Peshmerga are making use of these conditions to further tighten the noose on ISIL in regions south of Kirkuk and also to tighten their grip on the oil-rich city.
MS/NN/HMV
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