This is first victory against IS after US airstrikes began
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters celebrate on the back of a truck as they head to the Mosul dam on the Tigris river that they recaptured from Islamic State jihadists on Monday. (Photo: AP)
Baghdad: The Iraqi security forces and Kurdish fighters on Monday wrested back control of the country’s largest dam from the hands of Islamic militants who captured it less than two weeks ago, an army spokesman in Baghdad said.
The development marks the first major victory for Iraqi and, Kurdish troops since U.S. airstrikes began earlier this month and could significantly boost their morale as they try to free territory overrun by the Islamic State group in a blitz this summer.The Mosul Dam spanning the Tigris River just north of Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and its broader complex hold great strategic value as they supply electricity and water to a large part of the country.
Alarmed by the militants advance, the U.S. and Iraqi airstrikes pounded the area in the past two days. The United States military said in a statement that US forces conducted nine strikes on Saturday and another 16 on Sunday in efforts to help the Iraqis retake the dam.
( Source : AP )
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