Sinjar offensive: Kurdish troops attempt to take back key Iraqi city and split Isis in two

An ambitious military offensive has finally been launched to retake a key town from Isis which, if successful, could split the militant group’s territories in two.

 

With the support of US-led coalition air strikes at their backs, up to 8,000 Kurdish and Yazidi soldiers have reportedly captured a number of villages on their way towards the Iraqi town of Sinjar.

 

Lying on a key road between Isis’s Iraqi stronghold of Mosul and its “capital” in Syria, Raqqa, the town was overrun by militants in a significant blow for the Iraqi army more than a year ago.

 

The UK Ministry of Defence said the RAF had played a “full part in coalition reconnaissance and strike missions to provide air support” as the offensive began. Sky News reported that British special forces were also involved in directing operations on the front line, but this was not confirmed by the MoD.

 

Operation Free Sinjar aims to seize back the town, shutting off major Isis supply routes and establishing a buffer zone to protest its civilians from artillery fire.

 

The offensive has been long overdue, delayed by infighting between rival local forces.

 

But overnight, coalition jets pounded Isis positions as thousands of Kurdish special forces, peshmerga and Yazidi fighters descended from the mountain that shares its name with the town towards the frontline in a military convoy.

 

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