On October 8, 2015 fighters of the Yezidi YBS (Shingal´s Resistance Units) launched an offensive on Thursday morning in the southwest of Shingal region which is located in the northwest of Iraq. Commanders of the YBS announced that ISIS terrorists were successfully pushed back from localities near Bab Shlo and Bara.

Backed by the PKK, YBS fighters recaptured and took control of the strategically important areas near the Syrian border. The operation was part of an offensive aimed at cutting off ISIS´s most important supply line to Syria.

PKK and YBS units in Shingal
PKK and YBS units in Shingal

On the same day resistance units continued the offensive, managing to cut off ISIS from its supply line by capturing the main highway connecting ISIS held Tal Afar and Mosul with ISIS held territory in Syria. This was precided by fierce clashes between resistance units and ISIS terrorists in the south of Shingal, before YBS and PKK fighters prevailed and killed a dozen of terrorists.

The fight over the liberation of the southern Shingal region – which for the most part is still occupied by ISIS – had been stagnating for months, not least because the terrorist militia had been sending reinforcements to the region via the highway from Syria to Mosul. A few kilometres west of Sikeniye, located in the southwest of Mount Shingal, YBS and PKK fighters also took a strategically important hill from where ISIS controlled the highway to Syria. Over 35 ISIS terrorists were killed during the offensive. Information on YBS or PKK casualties are not available.

According to an ezidiPress correspondent, Yezidis´ former neighbours and tribesmembers who supported ISIS´s genocide against the Yezidi people fled from Shingal to the south of the region as the result of the offensive. Moreover, coalition forces conducted six airstrikes that day which destroyed an ISIS tactical unit, three ISIS vehicles, an ISIS heavy machine gun, two ISIS fighting positions, an ISIS weapons cache and two ISIS trench systems near Shingal city.

On October 9, 2015 fierce clashes erupted between ISIS terrorists and resistance fighters in the southwest of Mount Shingal again. YBS fighters claimed to have killed 11 ISIS terrorists during those clashes in Bab Shlo, six others were wounded.

A Yezidi YBS fighter in Bara
A Yezidi YBS fighter in Bara

On October 10, 2015 fighters of the YBS, the women´s battalion YPJ-Shingal as well as the PKK liberated further villages in the southwest of Shingal region, including Sikeniye, Wardiya, Hayale and Jiddale in the southwest of Mount Shingal. From the northwest of Shingal, near Bara, additional PKK and YBS units moved to the west near the Syrian-Iraqi border. Nine strategically important hills were captured at this point in time.

On October 11, 2015  ISIS responded with a counterblow at night. At around 3 o’clock in the morning, ISIS terrorists advanced into Bab Shlo and attacked positions of the YBS and YPJ-Shingal. Fierce clashes lasted until the early morning hours and left behind 22 dead ISIS terrorists whose bodies were seized by YBS fighters along with AK 47 and M16 rifles as well as RPGs.

A YBS commander told ezidiPress that the Kurdish government respectively officials of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had asked them to refrain from conducting further offensives for the moment. A KDP official stated that a Peshmerga offensive was expected to be launched in the coming days. The YBS, however, announced to continue its offensive.

A YBS fighter overlooking a hill in Shilo
A YBS fighter on a hill in Shilo

On October 12, 2015 YBS fighters prevented an ISIS attack on Monday evening in Shilo. As a group of ISIS terrorists came closer to the southwest of Mount Shingal, YBS guards localized and enticed them into a trap. Six ISIS terrorists were killed during the following skirmish.

On October 14, 2015 coalition warplanes hit an ISIS convoy in Shingal which, according to an ezidiPress correspondent, was coming from the suburb Al Nasser and heading towards the city centre of Shingal. This was followed by 15 airstrikes that completely destroyed the convoy. 15 terrorists were killed in these airstrikes according to unconfirmed reports.

On October 19, 2015 an ezidiPress correspondent reported that coalition warplanes bombed a building located in the southwest of Shingal city where at least 30 ISIS terrorists had gathered for a meeting. However, information on the exact number of terrorists who were killed are not available. It is presumed that no one survived the airstrikes.

© ÊzîdîPress, 23th Oct 2015