Kurdish Forces Capture Telsqof, Advance Towards Mosul Dam

“The assault will continue until we retake Zumar and Shingal as well,”

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Supported by US fighter jets Kurdish Peshmerga forces took the town of Telsqof early Sunday morning and they are making rapid advance towards the Mosul dam, said a Kurdish commander.

“With the help of American fighter jets the Peshmerga launched a wide-ranging attack this morning, we have taken Telsqof and Risala villages and we are moving towards the Mosul dam,” a Peshmerga commander in the area told Rudaw.

The commander said that the Islamic State (IS) militants are on the retreat.

“But we are moving carefully because the Islamist militants have left explosives behind and we want to minimize our losses,” he said.

The Peshmerga commander said that the aim of his forces is to recapture the Mosul dam that was controlled by the IS two weeks ago.

“The assault will continue until we retake Zumar and Shingal as well,” he said.

Sunday’s Peshmerga advance comes a day after a bombing campaign by US jets on multiple IS positions near the Mosul dam and surrounding villages.

Tel Isqof (Tel Eskof or Tel Skuf) (Syriac: ܬܠܐ ܙܩܝܦܐ Tilla Zqeepa; Arabic: تللسقف‎) is an historically Assyrian town in northern Iraq with a population of 11,000 most of whose inhabitants are Assyrians belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church.[2] It is located in northern Iraq located approximately 19 miles (about 28 kilometres) north of Mosul. ---Wikpedia

Oh good, oh good. God bless these men! They need to secure that damn dam!

I hate to say Obama is right about anything, ever, but I do think getting Maliki out (finally!) is a good thing, and the new guy seems OK (so far).

Iraqis, please, love your country and strive to make it a decent sort of place, where people can live together in peace.

What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?

True, true. I just hope the American people remember in their hearts what a really, really bad president Obama has been.

And still 2 years to go!

I was saying this myself, but now I see others are saying it.

Oy.

Peshmerga forces nearing Mosul dam

News / Kurdistan

Peshmerga Forces Free Number of Towns Near Mosul Dam

17.08.2014

Nuwar Fayaq
BasNews, Telskuf

Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with help from US jet airstrikes, freed a number of villages and towns near Mosul Dam on Sunday morning.

According to a BasNews correspondent in the area, starting early Sunday morning Peshmerga and US jet attacked from the east of Mosul dam and a number of Christians majority towns and villages have been cleared of IS militants.

BasNews has learned that the town of Telskuf, a Christian town north of Tel Kayf and southeast of Mosul Dam, has been freed along with a number of villages in areas 19 miles north of Mosul dam.

A Peshmerga source in the area has told BasNews that now they have freed those towns and villages from Islamic State (IS) militants, Kurdish forces alongside US airstrikes are continuing towards Mosul dam.

“We expect to clear Mosul dam in the next a few hours and we are progressing slowly, because when IS militants leave towns and villages they leave behind primed bombs for the Peshmerga. We are going forward carefully,” the Peshmerga source added.

The Mosul dam, strategically vital in the region, was under the control of Peshmerga forces when IS Militants captured Mosul in June. However, IS managed to take control earlier this month.

There are fears that IS Militants might bomb the dam, flooding nearby cities and towns.

Peshmerga forces have killed 15 IS militants near Khazir, 30 minutes north of Mosul, since Saturday night. Their bodies are being held by the Peshmerga.

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