ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Peshmerga forces and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) drove out Islamic State (ISIS) militants from areas near the Syrian border in a joint operation on Sunday, a Kurdish military chief said.
Jamal Eminki, chief of staff of the Peshmerga forces, told Rudaw that the Peshmerga and YPG launched a major offensive against ISIS positions at Khanasur, capturing six villages from the group and extinguishing an ISIS threat to Mount Shingal forever.
“Khanasur is located at the end of Mount Shingal and from there ISIS used to attack the Peshmerga and YPG,” said Eminki. “But following a plan, the Peshmerga and YPG managed to drive the militants away and reach the border.”
The Kurdish military official said that the joint Kurdish forces bombarded the militants with heavy artillery as they moved forward, while “coalition fighter jets also joined the operation.”
Eminki added that the Kurdish forces had crossed the border into YPG-controlled Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), where they also liberated two villages from ISIS control.
“The ISIS threat to Mount Shingal is gone forever and their routes to the area are cut off completely,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kurdish forces in Rojava said Monday that the YPG and Peshmerga are closing in on the city of Gire Spi (Tel Abyad), around 70 kilometers east of Kobane.
Muslih Zebari, the commander of the Peshmerga forces in Kobane, told Rudaw that all villages and areas between Kobane and Gire Spi have been retaken by the Peshmerga and YPG forces, and that the Kurds are within three kilometers of the town.
Over the weekend, the Kurdish forces recaptured the Lavarj cement factory on their way to Gire Spi.
