Iraqi Kurdish forces have succeeded in gaining a large area in the northern part of the country as they continue the battle against the ISIL militants.
The Peshmerga forces, backed by foreign warplanes, took control of several villages and moved toward the Sinjar area on Thursday.
According to US Lieutenant General James Terry, the Kurds managed to “regain approximately 100 square kilometers of ground.”
Meanwhile, Anwar Brahim, a senior officer with the Kurds’ intelligence services, said a large “deployment of Peshmerga is ready to close in on Sinjar,” amid fresh air raids on Thursday.
The ISIL terrorists captured the town of Sinjar in early August. They killed hundreds of residents, kidnapped and enslaved hundreds of Izadi women and girls, and forced tens of thousands to seek refuge on Sinjar Mountains.
Sinjar, which is located between the Syria border and Iraq’s ISIL-controlled city of Mosul, is one of the main goals of the operation that seeks to disrupt supply lines for the terror group and further isolate Mosul.
The liberation of Sinjar would eventually open a humanitarian corridor for hundreds of Izadi Kurds, who have been stranded in Sinjar Mountains, and are still under the ISIL threat.
The ISIL terrorists control some parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. ISIL militants have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
The militants have suffered a spate of recent setbacks in Iraq.
