ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Kurdish military announced the end of Operation Free Sinjar Friday afternoon with the liberation of the Yezidi town and two dozen villages, said the region’s security council.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) described the two-day operation as successful which “achieved its primary objectives: to cordon off Sinjar town, disrupt Highway 47 from East and West Sinjar, and create a buffer zone.”
Apart from taking full control of Shingal, the Kurdish Yezidi town that was occupied by the Islamic State (ISIS) for more than a year, the Peshmerga also recaptured 28 villages in the area.
“More than 300 terrorists were killed by Peshmerga forces and Coalition warplanes, and over 200 square kilometers were cleared and returned to the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement from the KRSC.
Since driving the radical militants from the area the Kurdish forces have established defensive positions in several locations on Highway 47 and other roads leading in and out of Shingal.
“This will limit ISIL freedom of movement and to its ability to send reinforcements and supplies between Iraq and Syria,” reported the KRSC.
