ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish Peshmerga forces said they were not involved in a dawn offensive by the Sunni Hashd al-Watani militia Saturday against Islamic State (ISIS) militants on the Bashik front. The offensive southeast of the ISIS-held city of Mosul was reportedly carried out with air support by the US-led coalition. "After 5 a.m. the Hashd al-Watani, with the help of warplanes from the US coalition, launched an assault on the village of Kanun on the Bashik front," Hamid Afandi, the Peshmerga commander of the Bashik front, told Rudaw. He said the Peshmerga were not planning to get involved in Saturday’s offensive but remain alert to defend their own lines in case of a spillover of the violence. "The (Hashd al-Watani) force has reached the village surroundings but has not managed to break in yet. Clashes are ongoing,” Afandi said. The Hashd-al-Watani, which is seen as a counterbalance to the more powerful Iran-backed Shiite Hashd-al-Shaabi force, was initially established to recruit Sunni fighters willing to take part in a possible assault on the Islamic State (ISIS) in its Mosul stronghold.
