Sunday, August 3, 2014

Islamic State Overruns Zumar and Sinjar - UPDATE

The Islamic State on Saturday overran towns of Zumar and Sinjar after fierce clashes with Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with reports of heavy casualties on both sides. The towns, west of Mosul, have Kurdish majorities, although not part of the KRG. The IS is apparently attempting to secure areas that it is contesting against the Kurds. 

The Islamic State also captured Zumar and Ein Zalah oilfields in the area. Iraq’s North Oil Company said on Saturday the Islamic State has taken control of oil fields in the area of Zumar, with daily production of 20,000 barrels. It also said it expects that the IS militants will load the shipments of produced crude oil in these fields and sell them in the black market, the Iraqi News reported today.

UPDATE: Later on Sunday, the Islamic State captured Wana, a strategic town near the Tigris River — putting them within striking distance of the Mosul Dam. Wana is the third town captured by IS this weekend. The capture of the dam would put northern Iraq in great jeopardy as the IS could unleash a deadly flood on large populations. (New York Times, 3 August)


File photo: Al Arabiya

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As i told u 3 weeks ago. No long time and isis/l will fight with the kurds because of money ( oil and taxes in the towns )
Iran is waiting for the right moment to give the order to the shia miliz to start the offensive and crush them ( isil ). Peshgerma will move back and just be silent.

Nader Uskowi said...

The future you're seeing (in crystal bowl?) is straightforward: Quds Force orders Shia militias to crush ISIL, and they will do that. End of conflict! I am afraid the realities might not be that simple.

Anonymous said...

Yeah and three weeks ago u also said that isil and the kurds will work together right?
We will see what will happen too isil.