08-18-2014, 02:56 PM
Good Dam News -- Kurds and Iraq Military Reclaim Ground from ISIS with Aid of US Air Strikes
![[Image: _76918540_mosul_dam_map_624v3.jpg]](http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/76918000/jpg/_76918540_mosul_dam_map_624v3.jpg)
Snip:
Fierce fighting is raging around the Mosul dam, Iraq's largest, as Kurdish Peshmerga troops and Iraqi forces try to recapture it from Islamic State fighters who seized it just over a week ago.
Iraq's recapturing of the entire Mosul dam complex on the Tigris river and the territory surrounding its reservoir would be a significant victory against the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of northern and western Iraq this summer.
The Mosul dam controls a lot of the water going into Baghdad, and it is one of the main water collection points for northern Iraq. It also produces hydro-electric power so it is of big strategic importance.
The advance of the government troops on Monday has been helped by US military airstrikes which hit at least 15 targets, according to the US Central Command.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdish regional government, said that while the operation is still ongoing, it is "almost complete."
"Most of the dam is now in the hands of the Kurdish forces, with the Iraqi forces, and they are clearing some of those areas, making sure there are no planted bombs," he said. "It has been a difficult, but successful operation so far."
On Sunday, the Peshmerga (Kurdish troops) recaptured the town of Tel Skuf, about 15km east of the dam, as well as the towns of Sharafiya and Batnaya. Their advance was also aided by US air strikes on Islamic State positions.
Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast...66490.html
Snip:
Fierce fighting is raging around the Mosul dam, Iraq's largest, as Kurdish Peshmerga troops and Iraqi forces try to recapture it from Islamic State fighters who seized it just over a week ago.
Iraq's recapturing of the entire Mosul dam complex on the Tigris river and the territory surrounding its reservoir would be a significant victory against the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of northern and western Iraq this summer.
The Mosul dam controls a lot of the water going into Baghdad, and it is one of the main water collection points for northern Iraq. It also produces hydro-electric power so it is of big strategic importance.
The advance of the government troops on Monday has been helped by US military airstrikes which hit at least 15 targets, according to the US Central Command.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdish regional government, said that while the operation is still ongoing, it is "almost complete."
"Most of the dam is now in the hands of the Kurdish forces, with the Iraqi forces, and they are clearing some of those areas, making sure there are no planted bombs," he said. "It has been a difficult, but successful operation so far."
On Sunday, the Peshmerga (Kurdish troops) recaptured the town of Tel Skuf, about 15km east of the dam, as well as the towns of Sharafiya and Batnaya. Their advance was also aided by US air strikes on Islamic State positions.
Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast...66490.html