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Islamic State seize town of Sinjar, pushing out Kurds and sending Yazidis fleeing
The pesh merga are known for their fighting prowess, but rocky relations with Baghdad mean they have no munitions supplies from the central government and their soldiers have not received salaries for months. Meanwhile, their lack of sovereignty complicates arms purchases from abroad and Baghdad put a temporary hold on cargo flights to the north last month.The senior Kurdish intelligence official said pesh merga forces had made a “tactical retreat” from Sinjar to allow civilians to leave after overnight fighting in the area. However, soldiers withdrawing from the town said that they had run out of ammunition, said Falah Hassan, 42, a Yazidi resident who spoke by phone as he fled across the mountains on Sunday. Sinjar is an ethnically and religiously mixed town, and its population had swelled in recent weeks as those displaced from nearby areas by the advancing extremists sought refuge. Among them were thousands of Shiites and Yazidis from Tal Afar, which Islamic State seized last month. It's hard to fight when you run out of ammo and the sectarians in Baghdad won't support you. Posted by: KBK 2014-08-03 |
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