Peshmerga repels IS attack in northern Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces repelled an Islamic State (IS) attack on the Bashiq frontlines, northern Mosul on Tuesday.

Brigade Musa Gardi, a Peshmerga commander in the Bashiq frontlines nearly 18 kilometers north of Mosul, told Kurdistan24 that the IS attack on Peshmerga frontline was at around 3:00 PM local time, but the attack was repulsed by Peshmerga forces with the support of the coalition warplanes.

“Peshmerga forces had information on their movements and were able to repel the IS extremists before reaching the frontlines,” Brigade Gardi added.

Speaking to Kurdistan24 over the phone, Brigade Gardi said that an IS armored vehicle trying to approach Peshmerga was destroyed, adding that a number ofextremists were killed in the offensive.

Elsewhere, on the Nawaran frontline in northern Mosul, Peshmerga tanks shelled two IS positions in the village of Khorsibad, killing four extremists, said Sarbast Trwanshy, the Peshmerga commander of Nawaran frontline.

“Another IS vehicle was hit by a targeted coalition airstrike inside the village, killing three extremists in the car,” Trwanshy told a local Kurdish media on Tuesday.

As the operation to liberate Mosul is approaching, the Peshmerga forces have five corridors to enter the IS-held city of Mosul and the Iraqi army is limited to one corridor.

Mosul is the second-largest city in Iraq located in the north of the country. IS has occupied the city since June 2014, causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in the Kurdistan Region.

Recently, in a successful military operation, Peshmerga forces, along with the support of the international coalition warplanes, cleared 11 villages from IS in the east of Mosul in less than two days.

Editing by Ava Homa