Some 7,500 peshmerga of Iraq's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) launched an assault against the Islamic State (IS) in Sinjar, Iraq, on Nov. 12. Jets from the US-led coalition have been carrying out heavy airstrikes for weeks in preparation for the operation. US officials estimate there are some 400 to 550 IS militants in the town.
Fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have positions in the city, but Kurdish peshmerga forces launching the offensive reportedly are not cooperating with them. If the drive to liberate the city is successful, recent history makes some wonder how aggressively various factions in the region would vie for influence in the strategic city.
Sinjar, or Shengal as the Kurds call it, is the largest Yazidi settlement in the world. It is in the middle of the Mesopotamian plain. After IS drew global attention with its capture of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, in June 2014, IS turned its attention to Sinjar.
After capturing villages one by one on the way to Sinjar, IS deployed troops heavily within 200 yards of Sinjar’s fringes. It pounded the fringes with mortar fire, and on Aug. 3, 2014, IS attacked the town's center. Thousands of people were killed and thousands more had to flee. When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) withdrew its troops, the town was left defenseless. The People's Protection Units (YPG) — the Syrian extension of the PKK — rushed to help.
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