Peshmerga forces drive ISIS away from Mount Sinjar

Kurdish peshmerga forces backed by US-led air strikes pushed Islamic State militants out of a large area around Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, according to Kurdish officials.

The Peshmerga, a term used by Kurds to refer to Kurdish fighters, delivered aid to Yazidi refugees on Mount Sinjar on Saturday and expanded a major offensive against ISIS in northwestern Iraq after breaking a months-old siege.

“We have managed to free 3,000 sq km during the last 24 hours,” Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, told reporters on top of Mount Sinjar. “Most of Sinjar is under our control now and with the help of God, we will free all of it.”

The Kurdistan regional government mobilised close to 10,000 peshmerga fighters last week in an ongoing operation to drive Isis from the Sinjar area, which is near the Syrian border.

“Peshmerga forces continue to advance inside Sinjar, engaging and suppressing Isis positions,” said statement from Kurdistan’s national security council. It added that between 250 and 300 jihadi militants had been killed since the offensive began on Wednesday, 50 of whom were killed overnight on Saturday.

ISIS, also known as Da’esh, has held the area since August, when tens of thousands of people, mainly members of the Yazidi religion, one of Iraq’s oldest minorities, were forced to flee to Mount Sinjar or face slaughter at the hands of the advancing militants.

It was partly the plight of the Yazidi people that forced Barack Obama and the international community into action against ISIS.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG group, which has been leading the battle against ISIL in the town of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border, was moving south to join up with the Peshmerga.

In addition to opening a safe corridor between Sinjar and the Kurdish areas of Syria, the YPG said on Sunday it had captured seven villages from ISIS on the Syrian-Iraq border - three on the Syrian side and four on the Iraqi side.

The leaders of autonomous Kurdistan described the operation they have spearheaded since Wednesday as the most successful so far against ISIS.

After the US-led coalition paved the way with some 50 air strikes, around 8,000 Peshmerga reclaimed some 700 square kilometres.