ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Peshmerga forces are inside Shingal (Sinjar) and have the Islamic State group (ISIS/ISIL) “defeated and on the run,” the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said Friday.
“Sinjar silo, cement factory, hospital and several public buildings now secured by brave Peshmerga. ISIL defeated and on the run,” the KRSC tweeted early Friday, listing key places in the city under Kurdish control.
“Peshmerga forces now inside Sinjar from all directions to clear the area of remaining #ISIL terrorists,” it said in a separate tweet.
The KRSC said that Kurdish President Masoud Barzani would “announce the success” of the Shingal operation at a press conference later Friday.
Kurdish forces reached Shingal in the early hours of their offensive against ISIS on Thursday. By controlling a major highway, they have disabled the group from reinforcing its positions in the area, according to the KRSC.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said that by 5:00 pm Thursday the Peshmerga were in control of a significant part of a road leading to the ISIS stronghold of Ba’aj from where the group had deployed most of its suicide missions against the Kurdish forces.
The KRG said that some 7,500 Peshmerga were involved in the three-pronged attack on ISIS in Shingal.
The Pentagon said Thursday that Peshmerga forces are leading the fight in Shingal, with US and coalition advisors behind the frontlines assisting in choosing targets to be hit from the air.
“The Kurdish forces on the ground are leading this fight,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters in Washington.
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