In the most successful and recent fight against the Islamic State, Iraqi Kurdish fighters drove Islamic militants from the northern city of Sinjar, rescuing hundreds of members belonging to the Yazidi tribe, who have been trapped there by the Islamic State for over a month.
1,500 Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga, backed by the oppressed Yazidi and Christian militia units, pushed into Sinjar city centre on Sunday. The coordinated assault comes almost a week after an American aircraft launched 47 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in the area. The air attacks led by US continuously struck the Islamic State throughout the last week, Deutsche Welle reports.
The Kurdish takeover of the Sinjar region was however, a happy accident. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said, "Today, thanks to God, we have liberated the whole area. The liberation of the centre of the Sinjar town was not part of our plan, but we have managed to control of a large area of it. We will not leave a single terrorist in any area we can reach".
The Kurdish efforts to retake Sinjar have set free hundreds of members of the Yazidi religion who have been trapped on the mountain since early August. However the effects of the IS terrorism in the area cannot be erased for decades to come.
During the rescue mission, the Kurds came across a mass grave containing around 70 dead bodies, all of which are said to be murdered Yazidis.
The Peshmerga's victory in Sinjar was the biggest victory in the fight against Islamic State in months. IS fighters reportedly executed several of their own Jihadis who had failed to hold the Kurds back.
Several IS militants who wished escape from the camps in Mosul and Syria were also executed for planning to disassociate themselves from the Islamic militant group and escape via the northern city of Al Raqqah.
ISIS has been taking over huge swaths of Iraq since June. It is anticipated that the Peshmerga would try to fight the Islamic State in Mosul early next year.
