YPG says it recaptured town of Hole, west of Shingal

By Muhammad Ismail

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) said Friday it had captured the town of Hole in Syria, after Peshmerga forces across the border in Iraq liberated the Yezidi town of Shingal from an ISIS occupation.

YPG spokesperson Redur Xalil said US airpower and the forces of the Democratic Syria, an umbrella group which includes the YPG, had been crucial in recapturing the city.

“ISIS militants crossed the border and fled to Iraq after the clashes,” Xalil told reporters.

His comments came hours after the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces declared Shingal liberated of ISIS, which captured the Kurdish Yezidi town in August last year.

The two victories by the Peshmerga and YPG mean that ISIS is effectively pushed back in both Shingal and Hole, which overlook the supply route between the ISIS strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.

The Islamic group has lost two strategic areas, according to military officials who have spoken to Rudaw on Friday.

Hole, southeast of the Kurdish city of Hasaka in Syria, was used by ISIS as the transit city between the two countries.