| November 2015 Sinjar offensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theWar in Iraq (2013-2017),Spillover of the Syrian Civil War, and theUS-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021) | |||||||
 Map of the concurrent offensives inal-Hawl and Sinjar, on 12 November 2015 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
Air support: MedEvac support: |  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Masoud Barzani Maj. Gen. Aziz Waisi[2]Maj. Gen.Mansour Barzani Brig. Gen. Seme Mala Mohammed[15] Sheikh Alo[16](Duhok region commander) Gen. Zaim Ali[17](western area commander) Gen. Wahid Kovli (eastern area commander) Haydar Shesho[2](HPŞ chief commander)  Mazlum Shengal[18](YBŞ chief commander)  Berivan Arin[18](YJÊ chief commander)  Murat Karayılan(PKK leader) İsmail Özden Newroz Hatim †[6](PKK field commander)  Sipan Hamo(YPG supreme commander) | Abu Bakr al-BaghdadiAbu Omar al-Shishani Mullah Ghareeb al-Turkmani Abu Askar al-Shammary Abu Eisa al-Azeri Abu Omar al-Uzbeki Abu A'isha al-Juburi[19] | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
Iraqi Kurdistan: Sinjar Alliance: PKK: Rojava: United States: | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7,500+[14] | ~700[14] (inSinjar city) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 300+ killed[22][23] 300+ wounded and captured[24][25] | ||||||
TheNovember Sinjar offensive was a combination of operations of KurdishPeshmerga,PKK, andYezidi militias in November 2015, to recapture the city ofSinjar from theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Kurdish forces, who expelled the ISIL militants from Sinjar and regained control of Highway 47, which until then had served as the major supply route between the ISIL strongholds ofRaqqa andMosul.
The offensive was code-named "The Fury of Melek Taus", in reference toMelek Taus, a figure fromYezidi religion.[26]
In August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launched anoffensive in Northern Iraq and pushed into Kurdish held areas ofNineveh Governorate, capturing the city ofSinjar, among others.
In what is known as theSinjar massacre, 2,000–5,000Yazidis were killed in and around Sinjar, while 200,000 civilians fled. Amongst these, some 50,000Yazidis fled to theSinjar Mountains, located to the city's north, where they were facing starvation and dehydration.[27] By the end of August, the majority of these 50,000 Yazidis were able to leave the mountains by crossing into Syria through a corridor opened by Syrian Kurdish forces, although several thousands stayed there.
While ISIL held ontoSinjar city and the southern entrance of theSinjar Mountains, they seized further terrain north of the mountains on 21 October 2014, thereby cutting the area's escape route to Kurdish areas. Yazidi militias who were securing the holySherfedîn shrine, had to withdraw into the Sinjar Mountains. The number of Yazidi civilian refugees was estimated at 2,000–7,000.[28] An American source called this new situation a partial ISIL "siege" of the mountain range.[29]
In the course of a first, six-day-longoffensive in December 2014,Iraqi KurdishPeshmerga took control over a part of the city ofSinjar and parts of the mountains, and expanded their offensive on toTal Afar. In early 2015, Kurdish forces also pushed closer to the City of Mosul in theMosul offensive.
On 12 November 2015, over 7,500 Kurdish fighters, backed by the US-led coalition, began their offensive to retake Sinjar. Kurdish sources reported that they captured the village of Gabara and also had cut the highway between Sinjar andSyria.[14] According to a Peshmerga official, U.S. and British special forces were also participating in the offensive.[22] According to the same sources, 16 ISIL suicide attacks were thwarted.[23] Later, it was reported that K forces had cut the Sinjar-Baiji and Sinjar-Tal Afar highways, effectively besieging ISIL in Sinjar. A Peshmerga commander hinted that no prisoners would be taken during the operation. ISIL counter-attacked in the western part of Sinjar, while hundreds of Peshmerga were waiting to be deployed in battle.[17] Kurdish forces had secured the wheat silo, cement factory, hospital and several other public buildings in the northern part of the city, with reports that ISIL had fled Sinjar prior to the offensive. However, a Peshmerga official expressed his concern about possible suicide bombers remaining within the city. Kurdish forces also secured 150 square kilometres (60 square miles) of territory around Sinjar from ISIL.[15]
At least 30 airstrikes by American warplanes, intended to soften up ISIL's military positions and uproot its fighters, were reported to have occurred on Thursday before the ground attack.[2]
On the morning of 13 November 2015, the operation's second day, a Kurdish force including Syrian KurdishYPG forces andGerila forces of theHPG advanced to the city center from the west. There they were joined by Iraqi KurdishPeshmerga forces advancing from the east, including the Iraqi KurdishZeravani led by Major General Aziz Waisi and independent Yazidi forces led by Heydar Shesho.[2] Subsequently, a stream of armed personnel carriers, Humvees, SUVs and light trucks were moved into the city. With a U.S.A-10 aircraft circling over the city, they took control of the city.[2]
Filmmaker Carsten Stormer, who wasembedded with the western frontline, reported they didn't face any fighting from the side of the Islamic State: "There was no resistance — I mean zero." He also confirmed the PKK-affiliated troops arrived first in this section, only then to be joined by the Peshmerga.[2] According toThe Economist, "IS forces reportedly pulled out of the town after two days of intense fighting, allowing the Peshmerga to walk in virtually unopposed on November 12th."[30]
The next day, YBŞ and PKK units captured a number of strategically important villages west and south of Sinjar, most importantly Emdiban near the border to Syria. In course of these clashes, both ISIL as well as coalition forces suffered casualties; among them was the PKK field commander Newroz Hatim, who was killed near Midian village.[6]
During the whole week,Coalition aircraft had conducted over 250 airstrikes.[3] Apart from U.S. aircraft, BritishTornado GR4 andMQ-9 Reaper aircraft, operating from theRoyal Air Force'sAkrotiri base targeted ISIL positions near Sinjar andTall Afar.[4]CF-18 Hornet aircraft from theRoyal Canadian Air Force were also reported to having contributed to the preparatory mission.[5]Iraqi Security Force helicopters provided aerialMedEvac support conducting fivecasualty evacuations.[3]
Though the presence of PKK, YPG and the Yezidi Kurd militias participating in theSinjar Alliance has been covered byKurdistan TV BroadcasterRûdaw, both Kurdistan prime ministerNechirvan Barzani and presidentMassoud Barzani claimed the capture of Sinjar exclusively for the KRG's Peshmerga forces.[1][13]Haydar Shesho, commander of theProtection Force of Sinjar (HPŞ), who before had been allied with the KRG peshmerga, warned of a "war over flags" and referred to the next battle being "the abolition of the one-party dictatorship".[1]
Following the recapture, in Solagh, east of Sinjar city, Kurdish forces found a mass grave[31] with the remains of at least 78Yazidi women believed to be executed byISIL militants.[32] On 15 November 2015, yet another mass grave containing the remains of 50 Yezidi men was found at a place that used to be the Shingal Technical Institute's fish pond.[33]
According to witnesses, in an alleged act ofretaliation, members of the Yazidi minority looted and burned Sunni Muslim houses following the recapture of the city.[citation needed] However, the report was denied by KurdishPeshmerga security commanders, and could not be independently confirmed. In the course of theIslamic State'sNorthern Iraq offensive in August 2014, someSunni inhabitants had allegedly identified local Yazidis to the militant jihadists, thereby enabling the followingSinjar massacre.[34]
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