Kurdish forces launched a major offensive on January 21-22 west of ISIS stronghold of Mosul, inflicting the heaviest defeat on the group since they took territories in Iraq and pushed deep into Kurdish territories last year.
Kurdish forces said they had retaken some 600 square kilometers which included two townships and a handful villages. Fighting continued into Friday. Most important of all is the capture of an area that looks on the road which links Mosul to Talafar (a major town and ISIS stronghold), Shingal (also know as Sinjar) and Syria, cutting off route for resupply.
The release of the video is the second of its kind that directly show ISIS elements destroyed by Peshmarga. Another was released earlier this month by Kurdistan TV that showed how the Kurdish forces chased and killed ISIS militants in a retaliatory operation following the ISIS surprise attack on the town of Gwer where 24 Kurdish soldiers died.
In this video, Peshmarga forces appear to have armored US made Humvees they either acquired when the Iraqi Army fled Mosul, or captured from ISIS. They also have some tanks - at least two tanks that appear to be Russian made T-55s appear in the video.
Peshmarga officials said the bodies of at least 200 ISIS militants were found on the battlefields. They also said ISIS sent 14 suicide car bombs to break into the lines of the Peshmarga forces of which 3 were destroyed by the coalition planes and the rest taken out by the Peshmarga forces who now use their newly received anti-tank weapons with brutal effectiveness.
In the video, at least 3 suicide car bombs trying to ram into the ranks of the Peshmarga forces are blown up by the Peshmarga with German made MILAN anti-tanks.
One armored vehicle that advances on Peshmarga forces is struck with two rockets. Two militants are seen abandoning their vehicle, trying to escape. Then, another armored vehicle approaches to help the two militants but the Peshmarga blow it up with a MILAN rocket.
