ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nofel Hamadi Akup, the governor of Mosul province, said Thursday that the current Peshmerga-led campaign to liberate Shingal should be considered the first step towards recapturing the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians live in captivity.
“The brave Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have launched an assault Thursday to liberate Shingal. Fighting ISIS is not something new to the Peshmerga because ISIS fears the Peshmerga," Akup told Rudaw.
The governor expressed optimism regarding the Shingal operation and said that the Peshmerga will achieve victory and taken a huge step towards controlling Mosul.
He said the liberating Shingal would come before an assault on ISIS-held Tal Afar, which would precede the anticipated operation to seize Mosul.
“The Shingal operation is conducted by Kurdish Peshmerga forces along the support of US coalition airstrikes without the participation of Iraqi Army,” the governor added.
On Thursday, Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched an a dawn assault liberate the town of Shingal from the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, Rudaw correspondent Dildar Harki said from the scene of the fighting.
“At least 20,000 Peshmerga fighters are participating in the Shingal operation. The Peshmerga commander said today is the decision day for Shingal," a Peshmerga commander told Harki. The Kurdistan Regional Government said in a statement that 7,500 Peshmerga were involved in the battle.
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