Kurdish forces end ISIL siege on Mount Sinjar

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have managed to end a siege by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group on Mount Sinjar in Iraq, a senior Kurdish official says.

The head of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Security Council, Masrour Barzani, said on Thursday that the termination of the months-long siege on the area, also known as Mount Shingal, came after a two-day operation against the Takfiri ISIL group and has reconnected the area to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

“Peshmerga forces were able to connect with their brothers on Mount Shingal today after launching a military operation that started from Zumar area yesterday,” Barzani added.

The liberation of Sinjar eventually opens a humanitarian corridor for the hundreds of Izadi Kurds who have been stranded in the Mount Sinjar area.

“The operation was a success and now we can evacuate the people on the mountain to safer places if they desired and we will try to clear the whole area completely of the ISIS (ISIL),” Barzani said.

The Peshmerga forces pushed the militants out of several villages near the Iraqi Kurdish town of Sinjar.

“We give this news to the people of Kurdistan and the world that the enemies of Kurdistan, the enemies of humanity and coexistence have faced a major defeat,” Barzani said, adding, “Peshmerga’s love for the country, for peace and humanity is far more greater than the message of ISIS (ISIL) which is nothing but killing and destruction.”

The ISIL terrorists had captured the town of Sinjar in early August. They killed hundreds of residents, kidnapped and enslaved hundreds of Izadi women and girls, and forced tens of thousands to seek refuge on Mount Sinjar.

Sinjar, which is located between the border with Syria and Iraq’s ISIL-controlled city of Mosul, is one of the main goals of the operation by the Kurdish Peshmerga that seeks to disrupt the supply lines for the terror group and further isolate Mosul.

The ISIL terrorists control some parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. ISIL militants have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.