Posted on 09/01/2014 11:47:57 AM PDT by GonzoII
Baghdad (Alliance News) - Iraqi government and Kurdish forces on Monday retook two more towns from the militant Islamic State organization, officials said, building on recent gains against the radical jihadists.
Government troops, backed by Shiite militiamen and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, recaptured the northern town of Suleiman Pek, an official said.
"Elite troops were able today to fully purge Suleiman Pek of the Islamic State," spokesman for Iraq's anti-terrorism agency, Sabah al-Numan, told independent site al-Sumaria News.
"The troops hoisted the Iraqi flag on top of the town hall."
Suleiman Pek is located near Amerli, which Iraqi troops regained on Sunday after breaking a two-month siege of the mostly Shiite Turkmen town by the radical Sunni group.
Outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday visited Amerli to congratulate the victorious forces, government-run broadcaster al-Iraqi TV reported.
"He urged the troops to continue their march to liberate other areas from terrorists," al-Iraqiya quoted an unnamed military official as saying.
After crumbling in the face of the Islamic State's rapid advance in June, Iraqi troops, backed by US airstrikes, have in recent weeks fought back and made gains against the jihadists in the north.
Elsewhere in northern Iraq, the Peshmerga on Monday recaptured the town of Zumar, almost a month after losing it to militants, a Kurdish official said.
Zumar, located near an oilfield, "has been fully liberated and is now under the Peshmerga's control," the official told dpa, on condition of anonymity.
(Excerpt) Read more at lse.co.uk ...
They retook the towns and now they are surrounded.
Great job...
Why do I have a mental image of Baghdad Bob when I read this?
Road fighters.
ISIS is “holding” an area the size of Indiana with less than 20,000 fighters. I understand skepticism, but I also believe ISIS is not invincible. It is way over extended, and it’s no doubt alienated the Sunnis it had liberated a few weeks ago. So I believe we can all rightly believe that ISIS will be beaten back, defeated, and exterminated.
I sure hope “further advances” means they are all dead. I’d hate to see obama and holder bring them all to the US for more slaps on wrists on our dime.
I listen to all of screaming about ISIS and it came on so fast, and it is being spread by so many that I wonder either what these folks know to be true. I also listen carefully to see what their “angle” is.
A good example was the General who was saying things are going to be bad—and read my book.
Or the ton of Congressmen who are saying ISIS “ could have inserted sleeper cells” across the border. And these guys have been talking about the border for months. No one says anything specific, just that stuff “could” happen.
Finally, ISIS has their hands full in Iraq with limited attacks. Does anyone think that they want the full force of the US military raining down on them? These guys are evil, but their leaders are not stupid.
This smells more like late summer distractions than it does anything else. But what else is going on that would warrant attention?
That presumes 0bama has a goal of exterminating ISIS. I submit that 0bama will never do what is entirely necessary and possible to exterminate ISIS. He and ISIS share many of the same goals, and 0bama will continue to bomb them only when absolutely necessary, but never adequately.
I don’t mean they’re not a problem or a threat. They are. They’re especially a problem for the weak and the defenseless in Iraq and the cowardly. For the US, they’re certainly capable of funding attacks on the USA now. They captured over a half a billion dollars. They hate us and will in their time attack us. We can strangle this baby in its cradle, like Churchill said the world should do to the Bolsheviks, or we can let it grow and become a totalitarian titan.
They are?
Politics will force Obama to do the right thing regarding ISIS. Regarding Putin, he’s an enabler and bigger Putinista than the apologist who come on FreeRepublic praising Putin for being STRONG and pitiless to the weak.
Hear, hear!
I am confident that with some decent leadership the Iraqi army is capable of taking care of them.
They simply need to be told that they need the go towards ISIS and kill them. If they surrender, ISIS will crucify them. If they retreat, they will be shot. So, the best option is to just take out ISIS and everyone is happy.
Now, in the next week or two we should begin to get
information on what the IS occupation was really like.
It will be even more horrifying than anything we’ve
seen yet.
It wuz a joke, just like these wonderful news flashes, suddenly, of success.
Limited attacks in Iraq are not what they're about. They are planning larger attacks as we speak. Whether they have enough time to pull them off is the question.
And who says the full force of the military will happen. This would cause havoc in the Dem party and ISIS knows that.
If they take out, say, Dallas or San Antonio, the Texas National Guard would go kick their ass.
Likely they'd attack NYC again or even a mid sized town in the heartland. That would cause plenty of panic.
I always thought if you wanted to scare the hell out of-and piss off America, attack a bunch of high school football games across the country.
Nothing more “American” than high school football.
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