| Battle of Zumar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theNorthern Iraq offensive (August 2014) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Air support: |  Islamic State | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 14 killed | 100 killed 38 captured | ||||||
TheBattle of Zumar was fought between theIslamic State andKurdishPeshmerga troops over the city ofZumar inNineveh province in northern Iraq. It started when IS launched an offensive on Zummar from 1–4 August 2014, resulting in its capture.[3][4] On 25 October, after US airstrikes,KurdishPeshmerga troops succeeded in recapturing the city, after an unsuccessful attempt to hold it in September.[5]
Beginning on 1 August 2014, IS attacked Kurdish Peshmerga positions in and around the city ofZumar. According to Kurdish sources, the initial advance of IS was repelled with some 100 jihadist militants and 14 Kurdish troops killed; 38 more IS jihadists were captured by Peshmerga.[6] However, three days later, IS captured the town as well as its oil field.[3][4] The victorious IS force was reportedly led byAmir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, one of the group's ministers and a deputy toAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[2]
On 31 August Kurdish Peshmerga troops entered Zumar. The Kurdish forces launched the offensive after capturing theAin Zalah oilfields just outside Zumar two days earlier.[7] IS fighters torched three oil wells as they retreated from Ain Zalah. The Peshmerga have been able to recapture several IS-controlled towns after receiving weaponry from the United States and other nations. As a result of the attack by Peshmerga forces on the Zumar, more than 92 IS militants have been killed and a further 160 taken to hospitals inMosul with severe injuries.[8] Kurdish forces were eventually forced to leave Zumar after enduring heavy losses.[5]
Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said on 19 September 2014 that four French air strikes withDassault Rafale fighter aircraft, had hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of militants, AP news agency reported.[9][10]
On 25 October 2014, Kurdish forces launched an offensive on the town. IS forces put up fierce resistance, and launched a car bomb attack on Peshmerga forces. Iraqi television said that 50 IS fighters were killed and 10 vehicles destroyed.[11] After seventeen US airstrikes on the town, Kurdish forces took control of it. Their future goal is to regain control of nearbySinjar, which was the scene of a massacre againstYazidi Kurds. TheDaily Beast reported that American and German special forces were involved in coordinating airstrikes in Zumar; a report which The Pentagon denied.[12]
36°39′27″N42°36′23″E / 36.6575°N 42.6065°E /36.6575; 42.6065
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