ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—About one quarter of the city of Qayyara was destroyed in the battle to liberate the city, a local official told Rudaw on Friday. “25% of Qayyara was destroyed during the clashes,” with Islamic State (ISIS), Salih al-Jabouri, head of Qayyara’s local government, told Rudaw, adding, “Peshmerga forces supported Iraqi army divisions in the operation to retake Qayyara.” Iraqi security forces entered the centre of Qayyara city on Tuesday and announced its complete liberation on Thursday. “There was coordination between Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army in liberating Qayyara. This coordination has existed since 2003, until now. The Peshmerga forces are on the frontlines in Qayyara and play a big role in supporting the Iraqi army,” said al-Jabouri. He added that there remain some villages left to be liberated in the area surrounding Qayyara, and he expects that will happen in the next few days. “The Iraqi security forces took control of the center of Qayyara on Thursday and liberated about 24 villages. ISIS has asked the residents to leave the villages surrounding Qayyara in the fear that they will be retaken in the next few days,” al-Jabouri said. He pointed out that the liberation of Qayyara will make the liberation of Mosul a lot easier. “The Qayyara sub-district is one of the biggest in Nineveh province, and ISIS considered it a stronghold. But now, after losing Qayyara, ISIS has collapsed and is in a tragic situation. Now, moving forward towards Mosul has become quite easy.” Before the liberation of Qayyara, ISIS set fire to oil wells and marshes in the area, putting the health of residents at risk. “For two months, ISIS has been burning the oil wells and marshes in Qayyara, and still the smoke is there. This affected the citizens, especially the sick people, elderly people, and children. But this will not affect the military operation in the area,” al-Jabouri explained. The Iraqi forces, with the support of the global coalition, retook Qayyara from ISIS on Thursday. They retook Qayara airbase, located 75 kilometers south of Mosul, last month.
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