ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Peshmerga forces took control of the town of Zumar near Iraq’s border with Syria after they expelled militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) from oil installations they had taken in a surprise attack earlier in the day.
Two Peshmergas and three policemen guarding the oil installations were killed in the confrontations.
Peshmerga officials said their forces had captured a number of ISIS militants and found many dead after the group withdrew from the area.
"Fighting broke out in Zumar starting early Friday after ISIS militants attacked the oil installations and captured six bunkers from the oil police," said the Peshmerga official. "But the 8th Brigade of Peshmerga forces launched a counterattack and expelled them from the installations."
“Peshmerga forces have advanced and currently hold some of the armed men that attacked as hostages, and several militants were killed during the clashes,” a Peshmerga source said.
Sporadic clashes have erupted between IS fighters and the Peshmerga forces in the past two weeks. The two forces are currently less than a mile apart.
IS has attempted to seize Christian-populated towns and take over homes in those areas. In Mosul IS has reportedly given the few Christians who have not fled to the Kurdistan Region or elsewhere the option of either converting to Islam or paying a special tax. Christians have also reportedly been threatened with either converting, leaving the city and even execution.
Christian properties have been reportedly seized and marked with signs reading: “This is the property of the Islamic State.”
In 2012, the town of Zumar was at the center of a political crisis between Baghdad and Erbil. The central government sent military units into Zumar which intended to cross into Syria, but were stopped by Peshmerga forces.
