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Peshmerga forces repel Daesh attack in west Kirkuk

Tuesday, 15 March 2016 8:50 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 15 March 2016 8:48 AM ]

An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga stands guard near the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, around 50 kilometers north of the city of Mosul, February 1, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq have thwarted an attack by Daesh terrorists on their position in the west of Kirkuk Province.

The attack targeted the Peshmerga fighters in Krawa Village in west Kirkuk on Tuesday morning, according to the Arabic-language Rudaw news website.

Colonel Sawareh Tawfiq, a commander of the Peshmerga forces, said the Takfiri militants exploited the foggy weather, which had affected visibility, and attempted to attack the Kurdish fighters, who were fully prepared.

He added that the Peshmerga thwarted the attack, killing an unspecified number of Daesh terrorists.

Meanwhile, 19 Izadi Kurds, most of them women and children, have been freed from Daesh grip.

Hussein al-Qaedi, the director of the Office of Abductees Affairs in the northern Iraqi city of Duhok, said Daesh had transferred the 19 Izadis to Syria after abducting them during an offensive in the town of Sinjar in Kirkuk in the summer of 2014.

He added that efforts made by the Office led to their freedom and that they have now returned to Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Last week, some 31 other Izadis were freed.

According to official statistics, some 6,255 Izadis have been kidnapped by Daesh and only 2,417 have been freed so far.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh terrorists began an offensive through the Iraqi territory in June 2014. Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from Popular Mobilization units are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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