Kurdish peshmerga forces launch offensive to retake Isis held areas
Iraqi Kurdish forces launched a broad offensive on Wednesday aimed at recapturing areas near the Syrian border that have been held by Islamic State (Isis) for months, officials said.
Among the goals is the Sinjar area, which was home to many members of the Yazidi minority before Isis attacked in early August and forced most of them to flee.
The risk of a genocide against the Yazidis was one of the reasons Barack Obama put forward for launching a campaign of air strikes against Isis.
The two-pronged push was launched from Rabia, on the border with Syria, and Zumar, on the shores of Mosul dam lake, said senior officers in the Kurdish army known as the peshmerga.
“Peshmerga forces launched an operation to liberate some important areas in Sinjar and Zumar at 7am (04.00 GMT),” a peshmerga brigadier general said.
“The attack is ongoing and has the support of coalition jets which have been targeting Isis positions in Zumar and Sinjar (regions) since last night,” he said.
The peshmerga had already recaptured three small villages, the officer added.
The chief of staff of Massud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, said the aim was to reclaim the entire Sinjar area.
“The plan to liberate Sinjar was reviewed by the Kurdish leader and the peshmerga field commanders. God willing, we will liberate it soon,” Fuad Hussein said.
Sinjar was the scene in August of one of the most dramatic episodes of the assault on Iraq the jihadists launched in early June.
Isis fighters killed hundreds of residents, abducted and enslaved hundreds of Yazidi women and girls and forced tens of thousands of people to seek refuge on Mount Sinjar.
Civilians remained besieged for days in the searing summer heat with little to eat and drink.
The majority of those trapped on the mountain fled when Kurdish forces opened a corridor but, four months on, little has improved for those who are still on the mountain.
Yazidi fighting units that were formed in the wake of the August attack have struggled to control land in the Sinjar area and retreated to the mountain once again in September.
Their only lifeline has been army helicopters flying in daily with supplies and out with civilians who continue to seek refuge on the mountain as a result of Isis attacks on surrounding villages.
A few thousand people are still atop Mount Sinjar. Some are residents of the mountain but most are fighters, from various regional Kurdish groups or recently-formed Yazidi militias.
“We are ready, we are waiting for the advancing forces from Rabia and Zumar,” said Dawood Jundi, a field commander with the peshmerga.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/17/kurds-peshmerga-offensive-isis-sinjar-territory-mosul
Structure of the Lead：
WHO-
WHEN-
WHAT-
WHY-
WHERE-
HOW-not given
Keywords：
1. recapture：奪回
2. Syrian：敘利亞的
3. genocide：種族滅絕
4. brigadier：旅長
5. coalition jets：聯軍飛機
6. target：瞄準
7. fled：逃離
8. retreat：撤退
It is cruel that the ISIS killed so many people that against them and threw their body in the market during the busiest time to threaten the opposition. Even the terrorism thought they are too violence. In addition, they even let the child and women fight for them. I think it is really inhumane for ISIS to do such terrible thing. Everyone should unite and blame for it. Only by working together can we fight against the terrorism and let the people in Eastern countries break away from the religion activists.
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回覆刪除There are many terrier attack happening in the world so far ,but I think the ISIS is the most abnormal one.They use the silliest way to achieve their goal.If they could express their idea through a peaceful way ,I think the whole world will be willing to negotiate with them.But now they kill many innocent people and even use video to record the killing process.All the thing they have done only let the whole world know that how cruel and terrible they are. It is time for the leader country to cooperate to knock down the intolerable organization.
回覆刪除ISIS has become the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. I think ISIS is the most cruel and radical organization. They not only formulated many inhumane policies but also killed many people. ISIS's real purpose is to establish a theocratic Sunni "Caliph" country in the Middle East, and the elimination of the Shia. The most important thing that we have to do now is to think up an solution to stop them from killing more people.
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