ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Since the beginning of the war with the Islamic State (ISIS) last summer 727 Kurdish soldiers have been killed, 3,564 wounded and 34 missing, the Peshmerga ministry announced.
“We are thankful to God and our allies for pushing back ISIS and defeating them in the Kurdish areas,” said the announcement on Wednesday.
“We sacrificed for this victory by giving the lives of 727 brave Peshmergas and 3,564 wounded ones as well as 34 missing,” it added.
“We salute the souls of our lost ones, praying for God to put our martyrs’ in heaven, and may their souls rest in peace. The fight against terrorism will continue,” the statement vowed.
ISIS forces swept across Iraq in June, rolling over the retreating Iraqi Army and capturing about a third of the country. The militants then turned their guns on the autonomous Kurdistan Region in August, reportedly getting perilously close to the capital Erbil before being beaten back by US airstrikes.
Since then, Peshmerga forces have been fighting the militants along the 1,050-kilometer border they now share with ISIS.
On the ground, the Peshmerga have been the main bulwark against more ISIS advances in the north. A unit of 150 Peshmerga also has been fighting alongside Kurdish forces against ISIS in Kobane, a Syrian-Kurdish city on the border with Turkey.
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