Shiite paramilitaries capture part of Baaj near Syrian border

SHINGAL, Kurdistan Region - A key residential complex in the besieged town of Baaj in northern Iraq was taken by Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary on Friday, a day after they began their Shingal Martyr’s campaign as part of an ongoing operation to take areas from ISIS in northern Iraq.

Rudaw's Tahseen Qasim reported from nearby that the Shiite forces captured Ramboosi complex in Baaj on Friday, driving ISIS out of the area.

In the course of today’s operation, the main Baaj-Shingal road was also controlled by the Shiite group, the reporter said, adding military confrontations between retreating ISIS militants and Shiite forces were still unfolding.

It’s the second phase of the wide-scale operation “Muhammed Rasululla” to capture remaining areas from ISIS militants in the Shingal region. 

The operation aims to control the western Nineveh contested town of Baaj and eventually reach Syria’s border, said Abu Mahdi Mundis, the deputy head of the Hashd al-Shaabi Board in a statement on Thursday.

 

As a part of the operation, the Shiite force announced on Thursday it had cleared ISIS out Qairawan completely.

There are 13 villages and complexes in Qairawan town in the Shingal region. The area is disputed, claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad and subject to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.

The center of Qairawan town is inhabited by Arabs, but the surrounding complexes and villages including Tal Banat, Tal Qasab, Kocho and Gir Azer are mostly Yezidi.

The bulk of the villages in Qairawan town were declared controlled by the Hashd forces, most notably Kocho village.

Kocho, the hometown of ISIS survivor and UN Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad, is a symbol of ISIS atrocities against Yezidi people. It is 18 kilometers south of Shingal town. Some 4,000 Yezidis used to inhabit it.

When ISIS militants attacked Shingal and its surroundings in August 2014, they arrested thousands of Yezidis, many from the village of Kocho. Some of them were collectively killed in the village, other girls and women were sold or taken by ISIS members. The fates of thousands of Yezidis still remains unclear.