Iraq Kurd chief Massud Barzani announces ‘liberation’ of Sinjar from ISIS
Iraq Kurd chief Massud Barzani announces ‘liberation’ of Sinjar from ISIS
The United States has halted the course of the ISIS group, President Bar-ack Obama said in rema-rks broadcast Friday, calling for a stepped up drive to “completely decapitate” the militants’ operations.
The ABC News interview was recorded Thur-sday at the White House, hours after the start of a major operation by Iraqi Kurdish forces, backed by US-led strikes, to drive ISIS out of the northern town of Sinjar. “I don’t think they’re gaining strength,” said Mr Obama. “From the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them. They have not gained ground in Iraq.”
“And in Syria — they’ll come in, they’ll leave. But you don’t see this systematic march by ISIS across the terrain,” he said. ISIS has seized large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria. “What we have not yet been able to do is to completely decapitate their command and control structures. We’ve made some progress in trying to reduce the flow of foreign fighters,” Mr Obama said.
“Part of our goal has to be to recruit more effective Sunni partners in Iraq to really go on offence rather than simply engage in defence.” The President warned that regional strife will persist “until we get the Syria political situation resolved.” “Until Assad is no longer a lightning rod for Sunnis in Syria and that entire region is no longer a proxy war for Shia-Sunni conflict, we’re going to continue to have problems,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurd-ish leader Massud Barzani announced the “liberation” of Sinjar from the ISIS group Friday in an assault backed by US-led strikes that cut a key jihadist supply line with Syria. “I am here to announce the liberation of Sinjar,” Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan said. Barzani’s remarks also made clear that political conflict over Sinjar wo-uld likely follow military battle for the town. “Sinjar was liberated by the blood of the peshmerga and became part of Kurd-istan,” he said.
On Friday morning, hundreds of Kurdish fighters, dressed in camouflage uniforms and armed with assault rifles and machineguns, moved into the town on foot, an AFP journalist reported. They entered carrying the autonomous Kurdish region's flag, firing in the air and shouting “Long live the peshmerga!” and “Long live Kurd-istan!” Inside Sinjar, many houses and shops, a petrol garage and the local government headquarters ha-d been destroyed.
