Kurdish Peshmerga forces advance against Daesh in Sinjar

WASHINGTON/MOSUL, Iraq

Peshmerga forces from Iraq’s Kurdish region seized control of the governor’s office in Sinjar district on Thursday in an extensive military operation against Daesh, according to the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Hemin Hawrami, head of foreign relations at the party, said on Twitter that the peshmerga forces clashed with Daesh in central Sinjar and are advancing rapidly, taking control of many villages east of the district in an extensive operation led by President Masoud Barzani, who was on the frontlines.

Hawrami added that the forces managed to seize control of a strategic road that connects Sinjar with Raqqa, Daesh’s stronghold in Syria.

Officials said approximately 7,500 peshmerga forces are participating in the operation, with air support provided by a U.S.-led international coalition.

“Peshmerga forces totally purged Tal al-Shor and Hajji Fadel villages [25 kilometers in eastern Sinjar] and found the bodies of seven Daesh militants,” said Sherzad Zakholi, a peshmerga captain.

Meanwhile, the official military media wing said that peshmerga forces wrestled control of five villages from Daesh in Sinjar.

Jamal Eminki, the Iraqi Kurdish region’s chief of staff, told Anadolu Agency that peshmerga forces advanced approximately 10 kilometers into the area and are gaining ground in the eastern part of Sinjar.

Eminki asserted that no PKK terrorist group militants participated in the operation and the peshmerga received support only from the international coalition.

Sinjar is a town located 120 kilometers west of Mosul with an Ezidi Kurdish majority. It fell to Daesh in August 2014.

Thousands of Ezidis were forced to flee their homes to the nearby Sinjar Mount where they had been besieged by the militant group before peshmerga forces saved them.

A Pentagon spokesman described the offensive as "a specific effort to target a critical supply line [of Daesh], between Raqqa and Mosul," which would have an impact on Daesh in its operations in Iraq.

"The peshmerga forces are carrying this out with the support of coalition advisers," said Peter Cook added. "There are U.S. personnel and my understanding is that there are coalition advisers from other countries, as well, participating."

The advisors are behind the front lines, and some are on Sinjar mountain, said Cook.

"They're not directly in the line of action, but they might be able to visibly see it," he added.