‘Peshmerga freed nine Nineveh administration units from IS’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Peshmerga forces have liberated almost nine administration units from the Islamic State (IS), and play an advisory role on the Makhmour front line, said the Nineveh Governor on Saturday.

The offensive to recapture Mosul has already begun with the liberation of some villages and towns in the south and east of the city.

Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga have been successfully cooperating with coalition air strikes to secure more territory.

The Governor of Nineveh Nawfal Hamadi told Kurdistan24 that Peshmerga forces play a vital role in liberating areas in Nineveh Province from IS insurgents.

“Peshmerga has liberated almost nine administration units from Da’esh in Nineveh,” said Hamadi, using the Arabic pejorative for IS.

Hamadi also revealed that in recent attacks on extremists on the Makhmour front line, southwest of Mosul, Peshmerga did not participate in the offensive, but played an advisory role.

“We value the role of Peshmerga in Nineveh, who have helped liberate several administration units out of a total of 31 in the province,” he added.

Peshmerga has been marked as one of the most efficient ground forces in defeating IS, liberating many territories in the north of Iraq.

In June 2014, IS emerged in Mosul, controlling large swaths of territory in Iraq, stretching from Nineveh to the provinces of Salahaddin, Diyala and Anbar.

According to a recent statement by the US Special Envoy Brett McGurk, IS has lost almost 50 percent of territory in Iraq and 20 percent in Syria since 2014.

He added that the group's influence continues to diminish in both countries.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany