They were joined there by fighters from a rival group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and also by fighters from the Yazidi religious minority, whose population was nearly entirely rooted in the Sinjar region before fleeing enslavement and massacre at the hands of the Islamic State.
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In a press conference called near Sinjar in the aftermath of the battle, Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani said, “I congratulate the people of Kurdistan, especially the Yazidis”, adding that the Kurdish factions had “delivered on our pledge to liberate Sinjar”.
A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Friday captured the town of al Houl in Hasaka province, which had been held by Islamic State militants, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters, part of the grouping, said.
As a result of the offensive, Kurdish forces were able to cut Highway 47, which is a strategic route between Raqqa in Syria and the Iraqi city of Mosul – the main ISIL bastions.
Peshmerga militia fighters tied to Barzani’s KDP came under criticism previous year after they fled an IS assault on Sinjar, leaving the minority Kurdish Yazidis, who follow a syncretic religion deemed heretical to hard-line Islamists, open to slaughter and other atrocities.
The offensive cut a key supply line linking militant-held areas in Iraq with those in Syria. Peshmerga soldiers told CBS News they were expecting snipers, auto bombs, and booby traps not only on the roadside, but also inside buildings as they push deeper into Sinjar.
The Kurdistan council said peshmerga forces had entered Sinjar “from all directions” to begin clearing remaining insurgents.
Sinjar has been under the control of ISIS for more than a year.
‘There are a few advisers who are on Sinjar mountain, assisting in the selection of air strike targets, ‘ he said.
Kerry said USA officials were still assessing the strike that targeted the British-born Islamic State militant “Jihadi John”, butsaid it showed the group’s days were numbered.
The fight to dislodge ISIS militants from the Kurdish town of Kobani in northern Syria, meanwhile, took about four months – despite hundreds of US airstrikes in support of the Kurdish fighters.
“The liberation of Sinjar will have a big impact on liberating Mosul”, Barzani said.
Kurdish troops have declared the recapture of the Iraqi town of Sinjar from so-called Islamic State forces.
Initial reports have stated that ISIS failed to put up serious resistance to the Kurdish forces, with their defenses collapsing far more quickly than had been expected.
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Aiding the Yazidis, who ISIL consider to be heretics, was one of Washington’s main justifications for starting its air campaign against the group previous year.
