Iraq: Islamic State kills 30 Peshmerga in surprise attack on Kurdish forces

January 11, 2015 | By hromedia | Reply More

Jan 11, – Islamic State group fighters attempting to retake a town in northern Iraq held by Kurdish peshmerga forces have killed at least 30 Kurds, an Iraqi military spokesman said Sunday.

Three Kurdish officers reported continued clashes with Islamic State on Sunday, one day after the deaths, near Gwer, a town some 40km (25 miles) southwest of the autonomous Kurdish region’s capital Arbil.

The Peshmerga claimed the ISIL dead included four alleged suicide attackers armed with explosives belts.

Iraq has been gripped by a security vacuum since June, when the ISIL stormed the northern province of Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

“We’ve been engaged in fighting with them for the past two days,” said one senior Kurdish officer on the Gwer frontline as the sound of gunfire rattled in the background.

Earlier this month, peshmerga fighters also retook small villages around the militant-held town of Sinjar, opening a corridor to help hundreds of Yazidi families atop nearby Mount Sinjar.

Refinery under attack. The peshmerga launched a ground offensive to drive IS militants out of the Gwer area in late December, retaking several villages with the help of coalition airstrikes.

Islamic State said on Friday it had launched a counter-attack against the peshmerga with a range of weapons including TOW missiles and rockets, killing dozens, including a senior officer.

Twenty mortar rounds were fired at the refinery, followed by a car bomb and three hours of fighting before the militants retreated, he said.

Press journalist for HRO media – Khizer Hayat reports.