DUHOK, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish Peshmerga forces defended themselves, killing three ISIS suicide-belt-laden bombers on the West Tigris front after the militants tried to trick the Kurds by saying they were surrendering.
“Three ISIS suicide bombers pretending to be turning themselves in to the Peshmerga approached to the Peshmerga frontlines,” announced the Peshmerga’s Duhok Command.
The incident occurred on Tuesday night nearby the village of Gol Ahmed on the West Tigris front near Mosul Dam Lake. The area is a so-called disputed area, claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad.
“But it was known before per intelligence information that that they had intended to detonate them among the Peshmerga forces,” the statement detailed.
The Peshmerga prepared an ambush resulting in the deaths of the three ISIS militants, the Kurdish statement added.
West Tigris front is one of the many areas where armed clashes between ISIS and Peshmerga were intense during the rise of ISIS in 2014, but largely stopped during the Mosul offensive.
Mosul city was declared liberated on July 10. The offensive to oust ISIS from Tal Afar commenced on Sunday and there have been reports of ISIS trying to flee north and then into the border region with Syria.
Rudaw reported this week that locals on the southern coast of Mosul Dam Lake have confirmed the establishment of a US military base near Zummar in support of Tal Afar operations.
ISIS militants have also fled from Mosul eastward into the safety of the Hamrin mountains, which they use to infiltrate Hawija and launch attacks in southern Kirkuk, Daquq, and Tuz Khurmatu.
Kurdish officials repeatedly have warned the US-led international coalition of the threat ISIS poses due to a much delayed operation in Hawija.
The coalition has told Rudaw English that the decision for Hawija ultimately lies with the Iraqi government.
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