ISIS pockets in Bashir suffer casualties in pre-dawn attack on Peshmerga
KIRKUK – Pockets of Islamic State (ISIS) militants remaining in Bashir village southwest of Kirkuk launched a pre-dawn attack on Peshmerga forces on Monday, suffering casualties but without any loss of Kurdish soldiers.
A Rudaw reporter on the scene said that several ISIS militants were killed or wounded, and that the militants had withdrawn the bodies of dead or wounded fighters. The Peshmerga were in possession of one dead ISIS militant.
Peshmerga forces declared Sunday that Bashir had been cleared of ISIS militants.
The Peshmerga were called in to intervene in Bashir following several failed attempts by the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi forces to recapture the village.
ISIS attempted to halt the Peshmerga offensive by using rockets and planting mines but ultimately failed to hold onto the town.
Coalition forces reportedly took part in the liberation of Bashir, providing air power. Sources said that US B-52 bombers were used for the first time in Bashir in the fight against ISIS.
Bashir initially fell to ISIS back in June 2014 after the group’s successful takeover of Mosul and large swaths of northwestern Iraq. Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen had long sought to recapture it single-handedly but failed.
Shiite Turkmen members of Hashd al-Shaabi reportedly participated in the liberation, initial reports indicated that the Peshmerga had done most of the fighting in the village itself. Bashir is a Shiite Turkmen-majority village.
A Rudaw reporter on the scene said that several ISIS militants were killed or wounded, and that the militants had withdrawn the bodies of dead or wounded fighters. The Peshmerga were in possession of one dead ISIS militant.
Peshmerga forces declared Sunday that Bashir had been cleared of ISIS militants.
The Peshmerga were called in to intervene in Bashir following several failed attempts by the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi forces to recapture the village.
ISIS attempted to halt the Peshmerga offensive by using rockets and planting mines but ultimately failed to hold onto the town.
Coalition forces reportedly took part in the liberation of Bashir, providing air power. Sources said that US B-52 bombers were used for the first time in Bashir in the fight against ISIS.
Bashir initially fell to ISIS back in June 2014 after the group’s successful takeover of Mosul and large swaths of northwestern Iraq. Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen had long sought to recapture it single-handedly but failed.
Shiite Turkmen members of Hashd al-Shaabi reportedly participated in the liberation, initial reports indicated that the Peshmerga had done most of the fighting in the village itself. Bashir is a Shiite Turkmen-majority village.