Kurds say they've retaken territory near Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq

[Valin]

CNN:

Hamdi Alkhshali, Susanna Capelouto and Ralph Ellis, CNN

Thu December 18, 2014

 

(CNN) -- Kurdish Pershmerga forces say they've recaptured territory near Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq, where dramatic airdrops were made last summer to the Yazidis, one of Iraq's smallest minorities.

 

The Kurish military says it has "cleansed" the area of ISIS fighters with the help of coalition airstrikes.

 

The operation represents the single biggest and most successful military offensive against ISIS, said the Kurdistan Region Security Council in a news release.

 

Last summer, the siege of Sinjar forced the Yazidis, one of Iraq's smallest minorities, to flee the ISIS advance.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Kurds Claim Advances In Kobani; IS Militant Says U.S. Air Strikes Causing Injuries

December 18, 2014

 

Although there has been less media focus on the besieged Syrian town of Kobani in recent days and weeks, the battle between Islamic State (IS) militants and Kurdish forces continues to rage with no significant gains or retreats on either side.

 

The situation in the predominantly Kurdish northern Syrian city remains unclear, however, with both sides saying that they are advancing. While it is difficult to get an accurate picture of the state of play in Kobani, it is possible to piece together information from news and social media reports.

 

Kurdish news sources reported this week that Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Peshmerga militias have managed to make gains against IS militants in the city.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]

Peshmerga finally liberate Yazidis after four-month siege POSTED AT 3:21 PM ON DECEMBER 19, 2014 BY ED MORRISSEY

Remember the Yazidis? The last we heard about them from the Obama administration, the religious minority had been largely rescued from the genocidal maniacs of ISIS, which had trapped most of them on Mount Sinjar without food and water. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case; thousands of them remained trapped and re-encircled, as the Washington Post reported at the time while the White House insisted any further rescue missions were unnecessary.

Four months later, the Kurdish peshmerga finally got them off the mountain: