Kurdish forces backed by US air strikes were close to encircling the strategic Mosul dam as they bid to retake it from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis.
The counter-offensive on Sunday by peshmerga fighters will come as a welcome morale boost to the Kurds, who were shocked when Isis advanced into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, denting the peshmerga’s military reputation.
Ground forces have seized about 80 per cent of the territory surrounding Mosul dam, said peshmerga spokesman Holgurt Hikmet.
“US planes are still bombing and an Iraqi army brigade has advanced along with peshmerga forces,” said Mr Hikmet. He would not name the Iraqi brigade that joined the attack.
The Mosul dam, which has been poorly maintained for many years, is an important target that could be risky to retake and Iraqi officials fear it could be converted into a catastrophic weapon. Isis, which wrested the dam from Kurdish hands almost two weeks ago, could cut off power or water to millions of Iraqis. If destroyed, it could cause devastating floods in the northern city of Mosul that could then wash towards Baghdad.
The dam itself is still held by Isis fighters. Mr Hikmet said Kurdish ground forces had begun by seizing the eastern territory next to the dam and had moved westward.
“Securing the area around it is more important than the dam itself . . . You have to hold the ground. They [Isis] can’t live up there on that dam forever.”
Isis, which now calls itself the Islamic State, would probably be unwilling to take such drastic action as destroying the dam unless its control over other parts of Iraq was seriously weakened.
Claiming to be establishing a caliphate, the group seeks to rule territory, not wipe it out. Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, was its first major victory in a sweeping offensive this summer.
Kurdish officials say Isis positions along their territory have been weakened by US strikes that destroyed some of the advanced heavy weaponry Isis seized when it over-ran Iraqi military bases this summer.
Mr Hikmet said US forces had laid the groundwork for the Kurdish offensive with three to four strikes a day earlier.
“Today at 5am we moved our peshmerga forces forward as US planes struck the area in a co-ordinated attack,” he said. “We made very careful plans so as not to hit the dam itself . . . God willing, we will take the dam today.”
When asked how his forces could ensure Isis would not blow up the dam, he said: “We cannot . . . Every possibility is open.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
No comments:
Post a Comment