Kurdish troops backed by warplanes battled the Islamic State group on three fronts in northern Iraq on Tuesday, clawing back land they lost to the jihadists in recent months. The Kurdish peshmerga struck before dawn against the town of Rabia on the Syrian border, north of the jihadist-controlled second city Mosul, and south of key oil hub Kirkuk, officers said.
A senior source in the peshmerga said troops had entered Rabia, after seizing the villages of As-Saudiyah and Mahmudiyah. ‘Ground troops are now fighting in the centre of Rabia,’ which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Mosul. He said peshmerga forces, backed by artillery and warplanes, were also attacking Zumar, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the city, near the reservoir of Iraq’s largest dam, which has been a key battleground between the Kurds and the jihadists. ‘We have ousted IS from 30 positions, including in the Zumar and Rabia areas,’ peshmerga spokesman Halgord Hekmat said. Both Rabia and Zumar were areas which the peshmerga seized.
A senior source in the peshmerga said troops had entered Rabia, after seizing the villages of As-Saudiyah and Mahmudiyah. ‘Ground troops are now fighting in the centre of Rabia,’ which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Mosul. He said peshmerga forces, backed by artillery and warplanes, were also attacking Zumar, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the city, near the reservoir of Iraq’s largest dam, which has been a key battleground between the Kurds and the jihadists. ‘We have ousted IS from 30 positions, including in the Zumar and Rabia areas,’ peshmerga spokesman Halgord Hekmat said. Both Rabia and Zumar were areas which the peshmerga seized.