WASHINGTON DC – Kurdish Peshmerga forces are leading the fight in Shingal (Sinjar) against the Islamic State group (ISIS), with US and coalition advisors behind the frontlines assisting in choosing targets to be hit from the air, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at a briefing Thursday that US advisors on the ground were helping choose targets identified by the Peshmerga.
“Most of those folks, as I understand it, are in -- behind the front lines, advising and working directly with Peshmerga commanders. There are some advisers who are on Sinjar Mountain, assisting in the selection of airstrike targets,” he said.
“They are not on their own, calling in airstrikes. They are working in collaboration with the Iraqi Kurdish forces, and determining the most effective locations for those airstrikes to come in,” he added.
“The Kurdish forces on the ground are leading this fight,” he added.
Kurdish forces reached Shingal in the early hours of their offensive against ISIS on Thursday. By controlling a major highway, they have disabled the group from reinforcing its positions in the area, said the region’s security council.
“The Peshmerga forces, with the support of the coalition air campaign and coalition advisers, are attempting to sever ISIL's primary line of communication between Raqqa and Mosul,” Cook said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said that by 5:00 pm Thursday the Peshmerga were in control of a significant part of a road leading to the ISIS stronghold of Ba’aj from where the group had deployed most of its suicide missions against the Kurdish forces.
The KRG said that some 7,500 Peshmerga were involved in the three-pronged attack on ISIS in Shingal.
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