Peshmerga repels IS attacks, kills 50 jihadists

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Peshmerga forces repelled Islamic State (IS) attacks on Friday early morning and killed over 50 insurgents. IS abandoned some 20 bodies on the battlefield as they withdrew, said a Peshmerga commander.

Early morning on Friday, IS launched a wide range of attacks on Peshmerga front lines in Khazir, southeast of Mosul, but Peshmerga defeated the jihadists and inflicted heavy losses on them.

“Dae’sh [IS] attacks Peshmerga front line to pretend that they are still strong after their major defeat in the area, but they repeatedly fail to cross Peshmerga fronts,” Brigadier General Salar on Wardak front line, east of Mosul, told Kurdistan24.

He mentioned that about 50-60 jihadists have been killed in today’s attacks and some of their corpses are abandoned on the battlefield.

“Peshmerga’s morale remain high,” a Kurdish soldier told Kurdistan24 whose name was not mentioned. “The only way for Dae’sh to pass Peshmerga front line is over my dead body.”

On May 30, Peshmerga forces completed a two-day operation in the east of Mosul where they liberated several villages from IS.

The two-day offensive began on the Khazir front, west of Erbil. Peshmerga killed several IS militants and arrested three, according to a Commander.

A Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) report later confirmed that 140 IS members were “killed by global coalition warplanes and Peshmerga forces.”

The report also mentioned that 14 IS vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) were destroyed, and 75 IS positions were struck by coalition warplanes.

The Peshmerga’s success on the Khazir front and their recent operation come at a time when the Iraqi army is struggling to suppress the threat of IS in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Ava Homa