JALAWLA, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish forces were locked in a second day of fierce battles on Monday to retake the Diyala town of Jalawla, after losing it to Islamic State (IS/ISIS) militants two days ago.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces have turned their artillery power on the town’s Tajnid and Jimhuri sectors on the southern fringes, where the Islamist militants have taken position.
Rudaw’s camera on the scene recorded close-range confrontations between the Peshmerga and IS militants with Kalashnikovs and RPGs on rooftops and narrow alleys.
Also on Sunday, the Reuters news agency reported that 10 Peshmarga were killed in a car bomb attack.
Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani confirmed that the Peshmerga on the Jalawla front have regrouped and are fighting to retake the town.
“I am certain that the Peshmerga forces will retake Jalawla and will not let this terrorist force become a threat to the people of Kurdistan,” he told Rudaw.
On Sunday Kurdish forces were able to take back the towns of Makhmour and Gwer, south of Erbil, where the IS militants were forced to retreat under heavy US air strikes.
This, some Kurdish leaders believe, has pushed the IS to change tactics and attack the Kurds on other frontlines, such as Jalawla.
IS is believed to have brought in reinforcements from other parts of Diyala and from Salahaddin to Jalawla.
Talabani said that the Peshmerga are fighting with high morale on all fronts and that they are being protected from the air by both the Iraqi and US air forces.
“The United States considers ISIS a terrorist organization,” he said. “America sees the group as a threat to the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, the region -- even the US -- and that was made clear by the US president himself.”
Jalawla was under joint Kurdish-Iraqi protection until June, but fell under the full control of the Peshmerga after Iraqi forces pulled out two months ago.
There have been more Peshmerga-IS confrontations there than any other part of Kurdistan’s more than 1050-kilometer southern border with the Islamists.
Talabani said he was confident the Peshmerga will reclaim Jalawla.
“We should remember that our forces have been fighting bravely on that front for a long time,” he said, referring to two months of clashes and street fights with the IS in Jalawla. “Night after night our Peshmerga have been repelling IS attacks,” he reminded.
“We should also be prepared that this is not a war of one day or two,” he warned. “At times we may advance and at others we may retreat, but I assure everyone that the outcome will be victory for the Peshmerga forces.”
Talabani said that the Kurdish forces now have a better understanding of the Islamic militants and the types of weapons they use, which would help them fight the rebels more effectively.
“Our Peshmerga also understand the kind of war they are facing now which is very different from wars they have fought previously,” he added.
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