Barzani: Peshmerga Took Revenge For Yazidi Women

Mount Shingal (K24) - In a press conference held on Mount Shingal (Sinjar) on Friday, the President of Kurdistan Region said that, by liberating Shingal, Peshmerga "took the revenge" of Yazidi girls and women who were taken captive by Daesh (ISIS) last year. He added that the people of Kurdistan and especially Yazidi Kurds now can "hold their heads high."

Responding to a question by a K24 reporter whether Shingal would now be considered an official part of the Kurdistan Region, President Barzani answered that Peshmerga shed blood to liberate it and that it is [and has been] a part of Kurdistan. He further stated that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) looks forward to working with Federal Iraqi officials to make the devastated and depopulated area a province separate from Ninevah (Mosul). Barzani also called upon the international community to assist both the KRG and the Federal Government of Iraq in Shingal's reconstruction and thanked the US in particular for their military support in Operation Free Sinjar, underway since November 10th.

The Peshmerga offensive to reclaim Shingal is supported by intensive anti-IS coalition warplanes’ and began with the participation of 7,500 Peshmerga early Thursday. Kurdish forces managed to take full control of the town by Friday afternoon with no reported casualties as IS militants withdrew with little signs of resistance.

(Bextiyar Ezizi contributed to this report from Mount Shingal)