A joint force of Sunni Arabs and Kurdish peshmerga fighters retook a village in the Makhmour district of Iraq from Daesh militants Wednesday with the assistance of US-led airstrikes, Reuters reported.
Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been one of only a few groups to claim consistent successes against the ultra-hardline group, but have been reluctant to push further into Arab-majority regions.
Wednesday’s offensive marks an example of effective cooperation between Kurdish fighters and local Sunni Arabs.
“In coordination with the (Kurdish) peshmerga and supported by coalition planes they have a plan to clear and liberate all the areas that the terrorists seized,” said peshmerga commander Qader Qader. “These attacks will continue.”
“We work as one team,” Sheikh Faris Al-Sabaawi, one of three commanders of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force told Reuters over the phone.
The Popular Mobilization Force, or Hashid Shaabi plans to advance to the Daesh stronghold of Qayara, with the ultimate goal of increasing pressure on Daesh-held Mosul, which peshmerga fighters have partially surrounded.
Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled Al-Obeidi has said the Mosul operation will be launched in the first half of 2016, Reuters reported.
