Peshmerga play supporting role as Iraqi Army and Sunni militia push to retake Mosul villages

MAKHMOUR FRONT, Kurdistan Region – Blaring Arabic music and chanting Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest), Iraqi Army forces and its allied Sunni militia kicked off an offensive early Thursday to recapture villages southeast of Mosul from ISIS, backed by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and coalition airpower. 

At around 6:30 a.m., Iraqi forces began moving toward several villages, as coalition warplanes roared overhead and the sound of cannon and artillery thundered for kilometers.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces said they were playing a supporting role in the offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS).

Zran Shekho, the deputy Peshmerga commander of the Makhmour front, south of the Kurdish capital Erbil, said that liberating at least six villages – Khalidiya, Nasser, Salahiya, Sultan al-Abdullah and Kermadi – was the objective of Thursday’s offensive.

Soldiers said that by about 8:30 a.m. local time the village of Kermadi already had been retaken from the militants, who have been in control of Mosul and its outskirts since June 2014, when their forces burst across Iraq and captured a third of the country.

“We are only playing a supporting role and it is the Iraqi Army and its Sunni militia that are in the lead,” Shekho told Rudaw on the frontlines, as the sounds of heavy and light gunfire thundered all around. 

Thursday’s operation comes ahead of an anticipated offensive to liberate Mosul – Iraq’s second-largest city and ISIS’ stronghold in Iraq. Although no date has been announced for that operation, Peshmerga and coalition forces have said they will be taking part in that offensive.

A column of dark, heavy smoke rose from one village, covering the sky. Peshmerga commanders said it was ISIS burning tires, making it hard for coalition planes to spot targets on the ground.

Hundreds of military vehicles, including Humvees, were involved in the offensive, whose success could not be immediately measured by reporters at the scene. 

After a bulldozer that was clearing a path to one village got stuck in thick mud, the Peshmerga said they were helping open another way for the Iraqi and militia forces.

“Coalition warplanes have been striking the villages since last night,” Shekho said.

Throughout the night in Erbil, helicopters and planes were heard in the sky, flying south.

A Peshmerga division was supporting the offensive and consulting with Iraqi forces, Kurdish commanders said.

Sources said that some 2,000 Iraqi soldiers and militia were taking part in the offensive. Iraqi forces have been fortifying their numbers on the Makhmour front for weeks. US forces also have set up a small base in the vicinity.

Ali Ahmed, a Kurdish soldier watching the Iraqis move toward the villages, said that if the Peshmerga were involved the operation would have gone faster.

“They are walking toward the villages, which is wrong, because they can be shot by ISIS snipers,” he said. They must do this in armored vehicles.”