Five Peshmerga killed in fighting near Gwer

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Peshmerga forces repulsed an ISIS assault targeting Gwer on the outskirts of Erbil, with one Kurdish soldier killed and 25 wounded in the fighting, sources said.

Peshmerga forces the village of Goshafi repulsed the attack, which included heavy artillery, tanks and armored vehicles.


Peshmerga officials called Wednesday’s attack the biggest ISIS offensive against their forces in recent days.

Sirwan Barzani, commander of the Peshmerga forces in Gwer told Rudaw that “the militants launched a massive assault to retake control of Gwer and its outskirts.”

He said that the attacks opened with a suicide bomber in a Hummer vehicle detonating his payload.
  

“I can say, it was the largest attack they have launched recently,” said Sirwan Barzani. “23 emirs of the terrorists took part and supervised the operation who had been brought from Mosul.”

Meanwhile, coalition airstrikes killed the Islamic State (ISIS) governor of the town of Badosh west of Mosul along with his two brothers, an Arab tribal Sheikh told Rudaw.

Sheikh Ahmed Mahmoud al-Jubouri said the militants were killed when coalition fighter jets carried out air strikes against ISIS strongholds in Badosh.  

He said the dead Wali was named Khadr Muqadam, and was also known as Abu Satir. Two of his brothers, Thabit Muqadam and Suleiman Muqadam who were leaders in the Islamic group, also were killed.