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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 17 Islamic state (ISIS) militants fleeing the group on the Makhmour-Gwer front surrendered to the Peshmerga, three on one front and 14 on another.
A Peshmerga officer who was on duty the night the ISIS militants surrendered to the Peshmerga recalled that "they were crying out saying 'Please do not shoot at us, we are coming to you to surrender.’"
"On Friday night, around 18 ISIS militants cried to us saying 'We are here to surrender. Do not shoot.’ But we did not believe them at first. We moved closer to them and planned to go behind them. When we got to the spot, we saw there were only three militants left there," Awder Taha Salam, a Peshmerga officer, told Rudaw, adding, "One of them was in military uniform. The other two were in pajamas."
"We hit them with strong lights and asked them to take off their clothes in order to be sure that they were not wearing explosive belts,” Salam continued. “When we could see that they did not have any explosive substances, we let them get closer to us and finally took them to our bases."
The militants were saying that if they returned, they would be executed, Salam recalled.
"The ISIS militants were hungry. Though they said they had participated in some previous battles against the Peshmerga, when we saw they were hungry and asking for food, we gave them bread, cucumber and watermelon to eat," he said.
After "feeding them, we were called by our superiors and we handed the militants over to them."
A Peshmerga officer who was on duty the night the ISIS militants surrendered to the Peshmerga recalled that "they were crying out saying 'Please do not shoot at us, we are coming to you to surrender.’"
"On Friday night, around 18 ISIS militants cried to us saying 'We are here to surrender. Do not shoot.’ But we did not believe them at first. We moved closer to them and planned to go behind them. When we got to the spot, we saw there were only three militants left there," Awder Taha Salam, a Peshmerga officer, told Rudaw, adding, "One of them was in military uniform. The other two were in pajamas."
"We hit them with strong lights and asked them to take off their clothes in order to be sure that they were not wearing explosive belts,” Salam continued. “When we could see that they did not have any explosive substances, we let them get closer to us and finally took them to our bases."
The militants were saying that if they returned, they would be executed, Salam recalled.
"The ISIS militants were hungry. Though they said they had participated in some previous battles against the Peshmerga, when we saw they were hungry and asking for food, we gave them bread, cucumber and watermelon to eat," he said.
After "feeding them, we were called by our superiors and we handed the militants over to them."
“The three ISIS militants were originally from [Sunni] Al Jabouri tribe and were from Hama Khalil town,” he added. “After ISIS took over their areas, they joined the group.”
In the past, tens of ISIS militants escaping the group have reached the sanctuary of the Peshmerga on multiple fronts including Khazir, western Kirkuk, Shingal, Gwer and Makhmour.
Salam added that on the same night, another 14 ISIS militants surrendered to the Peshmerga on another frontline.
He believes that ISIS militants feel they can trust the Peshmerga and so many choose to surrender to the Kurdish forces rather than other parties in the conflict. “They know we are humanistic and do not kill them,” said Salam.
The Islamic State has recently suffered significant losses to the Iraqi army in Iraq and Kurdish forces in Syria.
After victories in Fallujah and tens of villages in southern Mosul and Makhmour, the Iraqi army announced on Saturday the recapture of Gayara air base near the Tigress River in an offensive that aims to inch closer to the group's stronghold of Mosul, said the governor of Nineveh.
Similarly in Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] reported great successes against the extremist group in Syria's northern Manbij town.
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