Kurds push into Sinjar; Iraqis battle for airport

Source: AP-Excite

By DALTON BENNETT

SINJAR, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish fighters, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State group, pushed their way Sunday into the town of Sinjar, captured by the Sunni militants last summer.

Further to the east, near the border with Syria, Iraqi security forces battled the IS extremists as they tried to retake the strategic military airport of Tal Afar.

The battle for Sinjar and the surrounding area has become the latest focus in the campaign to take back territory lost to the Islamic State during the militants' summer blitz that captured large swaths of northern and western Iran and neighboring Syria.

Last week, the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters launched the operation to retake Sinjar and opened up a passageway to Mt. Sinjar, which overlooks the town.

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Iraqi Kurdish forces gather on the roof of their makeshift base, as they look upon areas held by Islamic State militants outside of Mosul, less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the newly liberated village of Kasr Reej, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. Sporadic clashes between Iraqi Kurdish fighters and Islamic State extremists, as well as other logistics problems, are delaying the evacuation of the last Yazidis still trapped on Sinjar mountain, an Iraqi lawmaker said Friday. (AP Photo/Zana Ahmed)


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