Sunni Arabs, Kurdish peshmerga retake IS-controlled Iraqi village

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sunni Muslim Arab fighters backed by Kurdish forces and U.S.-led air strikes retook a village in northern Iraq on Wednesday, February 3 in an example of effective military cooperation on the ground between them against Islamic State insurgents, Reuters reports.

The offensive in the Makhmour district south of Erbil began early on Wednesday, resulting in the recapture of Kudila - part of a series of planned operations to clear Islamic State from the area, Kurdish and Arab commanders said.

Kurdish forces have driven the ultra-hardline Sunni militants back in northern Iraq, but have been reluctant to push further into predominantly Arab territory for fear of being seen as an occupying force by inhabitants and provoking a backlash.

Local Sunni Arabs have been training in the Makhmour area as part of the Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Force, a coalition of mainly Shi'ite Muslim militias in which Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi would like to include Sunni groups.

"In coordination with the (Kurdish) peshmerga and supported by coalition planes they have a plan to clear and liberate all the areas that the terrorists seized," said peshmerga commander Qader Qader. "These attacks will continue."

Sheikh Faris al-Sabaawi, one of the three commanders of the Hashid Shaabi force in the area, said the group retook another village in the area in coordination with the peshmerga several days ago. "We work as one team," Sabaawi said.