“ISIL defeated and on the run,” the Kurdistan regional security council said in a tweet, using another name for the IS group.
It said the peshmerga had secured Sinjar’s silo, cement factory, hospital and several other public buildings.
Heavy bursts of gunfire could be heard inside Sinjar, as the peshmerga filed down the hill overlooking the town from the north, some with rocket-propelled grenades on their shoulders, said a Reuters witness.
The advance comes a day after Kurdish forces, backed by US-led air strikes, cut Sinjar off from east and west as part of a major offensive to retake the town from the IS group.
"By seizing Sinjar, we'll be able to cut that line of communication, which we believe will constrict [the IS group’s] ability to resupply themselves, and is a critical first step in the eventual liberation of Mosul," said Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the US-led coalition battling against the jihadists.
The IS group overran Sinjar in August last year, forcing thousands of people from the Yazidi religious minority to flee to the mountains overlooking the town, where they were trapped by the jihadists.
The United Nations has described the attack as a possible genocide, and on Thursday the US Holocaust Memorial Museum echoed that claim in a report detailing allegations of rape, torture and murder by IS against the minority.
Aiding the Yazidis, whose unique faith Sunni Muslim group IS considers heretical, was one of Washington's main justifications for starting its air campaign against the jihadists last year.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
france24.com
13/11/15
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Irak : les Kurdes irakiens affirment avoir chassé l'EI de la ville de Sinjar...
ReplyDeleteAu deuxième jour de l'offensive des peshmerga, le président du Kurdistan irakien a affirmé, vendredi, que la ville stratégique de Sinjar n'était plus aux mains des jihadistes de l'EI. John Kerry, de son côté, se montre plus mesuré.
C'est un revers pour les jihadistes de l'EI. Au deuxième jour de leur offensive, les forces kurdes irakiennes ont pris le contrôle, vendredi 13 novembre, de Sinjar, une ville du nord de l'Irak contrôlées depuis août 2014 par l'organisation de l'État islamique (EI), a annoncé le président du Kurdistan irakien, Massoud Barzani.
Dans le cadre d'une opération lancée la veille avec l'appui de la coalition internationale menée par les États-Unis, des combattants peshmerga sont entrés à pied, à partir du nord, dans la ville en proie à de vastes destructions...........http://www.france24.com/fr/20151113-forces-kurdes-entree-sinjar-ei-cite-strategique
Kurdos iraquíes refuerzan el control sobre la ciudad de Sinjar..
ReplyDeleteLas unidades de milicias kurdas en Irak afianzaron su control sobre la parte central de la ciudad de Sinjar, ocupada anteriormente por el grupo yihadista Estado Islámico, comunicó un jefe de los peshmerga (fuerzas de autodefensa), Ashty Kojar.
"Los combatientes peshmerga reforzaron el control sobre el centro de Sinjar al haber tomado hace poco la sede de la policía, la sucursal del Partido Democrático de Kurdistán en el centro de la ciudad y un almacén para conservar grano", dijo citado por la agencia DPA...............http://sptnkne.ws/adm8