A key Kurdish peshmerga commander said they achieved to seize the nothern Iraqi town of Sinjar from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after taking training and advices from Turkish military experts over “street fighting."
Sinjar is home to one of Iraq's smallest minorities, the Yazidis, who have suffered persecution at the hands of ISIL since ever the extremist group seized their homes in August 2014. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by US air strikes, recaptured control much of Sinjar town on November 13 in the biggest setback the group has suffered since they expanded their control in the north.
The regional security council in the Kurdish enclave declared that Kurdish peshmerga troops have enforced firm control over a wheat silo, a cement factory, a hospital and some public buildings.
“The training that we received from Turkish military experts had a big impact on our victory in the offensive," General Kahraman Kemal, commander of the Kurdish Peshmerge Operation Unit, said in his interview with Turkey's Yeni Şafak newspaper.
“Their advice on how to use mortar bombs had a great impact on the Sinjar operation," he said. "Their advices over street fighting have particularly played a decisive role in the clashes that the 7th peshmerge unit have been involved in the central areas of Sinjar."
Kemal said the training program is still ongoing in the military camp on the outskirts of Arbil for peshmerga to improve their ability to fight. “Turkish officers have tried to do everything so that the peshmerga will have a stronger fighting force."
The commander renewed his call for an increase in the number of Turkish officers sent on training missions. “We have requested Turkey to provide training to more peshmerga forces so that we can expand our military experience. We want more Turkish officers to be sent to give military training."
He also admitted that Kurdish peshmerga gained serious capability in the art of war and military tactics during these training programs. “Due to lack of sufficient experience, we were suffering a large number of losses at the begining of the battle with ISIL. But we are now able to get involved in street fighting and subdue ISIL militants more easily with the help of Turkish officers' trainings," he said.
The recapture of Sinjar comes as another major blow to ISIL after the probable death of Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John," a Briton who appeared in videos showing beheadings of foreign hostages.
US-led coalition jets have reportedly killed nearly half of the extremist ISIL commanders during the campaign, which has continued for the last 18 months. Kurdish forces, backed by US strikes, have also gained significant ground during their march in Syria and Iraq. They have managed to take Sinjar back from ISIL in the latest in the series of significant counter-attacks since ISIL's great sweeping of northern Iraq in 2014.
