Peshmerga kills five Islamic State militants west of Nineveh

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) The pro-government Kurdish paramilitary troops killed five Islamic State members while trying to infiltrate into Aiyadhiya region, located west of Mosul, a source from Peshmerga said.

“Troops killed five IS suicide attackers as they tried to infiltrate into checkpoints of the Peshmerga in Sahl al-Malih region, near Aiyadhiya,” the source told Shafaq News on Friday.

“All the militants were wearing explosive belt,” the source added.

On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said army’s 15th division killed 17 militants while combing Aiyadhiya, the group’s last holdout in Nineveh. Six of them were wearing explosive belts.

Late August, Joint troops recaptured Aiyadhiya, located 11 KM away from Tal Afar, after invading it on August 29.

Iraqi PM Haidar al-Abadi announced in a televised speech on August 20 the beginning of operations to recapture Tal Afar, which has been held by the militants since 2014, when the extremist group first emerged to proclaim its self-styled ‘caliphate’. This came after 40 days of declaring victory in Mosul, the group’s former capital, where operations lasted between October to July.

After declaring victory there, the Joint Operations Command set the IS-held town of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, as its next target of operations.