Kurdish fighters make advances against ISIL in north Iraq

Iraqi Kurdish fighters say they have made more advances in their fight to retake the strategic dam of Mosul from ISIL Takfiri militants in northern Iraq.

According to Kurdish sources, Peshmerga fighters backed by US airstrikes are gaining more ground around Iraq’s biggest dam.

The dam, which supplies water and electricity to northern Iraq, was seized by the militants several days ago.

On Saturday, US warplanes and drones struck militant positions in the area and helped the Kurds capture the eastern side of the dam.

“Kurdish Peshmerga, with US air support, have seized control of the eastern side of the dam,” said Major General Abdulrahman Korini, adding that several militants were killed.

The United States only began attacking the militants after they approached areas where the US personnel are stationed.

The ISIL militants have seized some northern parts of Iraq since June, killing scores of people in the past weeks.

The ISIL terrorists have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas, including the mass execution of civilians and Iraqi security forces.

On Friday, the Takfiri militants massacred around 100 members of the Izadi Kurds minority in the village of Kocho, northern Iraq.

Senior Kurdish official and the former Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said in Kocho the ISIL terrorists “took their revenge on its inhabitants,” who happened to be mostly Izadi Kurds who did not flee their homes.

Amnesty International says ISIL has kidnapped thousands of Izadi Kurds since it launched its atrocities.

Local Kurdish intelligence sources say they have received information that women captured by Takfiris are being sold to traffickers between USD 500 and USD 43,000 to work in bordellos across the Middle East.

In addition, several women have reportedly been forced to marry the ISIL militants.