Now if only each operation by the Kurds and others was as successful as this.
Iraq militants pull back from two towns after Kurdish counterattack
By PATRICK J. MCDONNELL
Iraq militants' relatively quick retreat from two towns may indicate they were testing Kurdish defensesKurdish commanders in Iraq express misgivings about their fighters' withdrawal last weekKurdish troops and commanders in Iraq praise U.S. decision to bomb Islamic State positionsThe town was largely abandoned, except for laid-back groups of Kurdish troops, and there was little sign of combat a few burned-out storefronts, scattered cartridges on the streets, the bullet-riddled body of an Islamic militant drawing flies next to a grain silo.
Makhmour, an agricultural and oil center about 35 miles southwest of Irbil, was as close as fighters of the Islamic State got to the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan before being driven off Sunday. The militants' takeover last week of Makhmour and another Kurdish town, Gwer, caused a near-panic in prosperous, cosmopolitan Irbil. Their rapid advance also helped persuade the White House to begin airstrikes against the militants.
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Iraq militants pull back from two towns after Kurdish counterattack - LA Times
Iraq militants pull back from two towns after Kurdish counterattack
By PATRICK J. MCDONNELL
Iraq militants' relatively quick retreat from two towns may indicate they were testing Kurdish defensesKurdish commanders in Iraq express misgivings about their fighters' withdrawal last weekKurdish troops and commanders in Iraq praise U.S. decision to bomb Islamic State positionsThe town was largely abandoned, except for laid-back groups of Kurdish troops, and there was little sign of combat a few burned-out storefronts, scattered cartridges on the streets, the bullet-riddled body of an Islamic militant drawing flies next to a grain silo.
Makhmour, an agricultural and oil center about 35 miles southwest of Irbil, was as close as fighters of the Islamic State got to the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan before being driven off Sunday. The militants' takeover last week of Makhmour and another Kurdish town, Gwer, caused a near-panic in prosperous, cosmopolitan Irbil. Their rapid advance also helped persuade the White House to begin airstrikes against the militants.
Continue reading at:
Iraq militants pull back from two towns after Kurdish counterattack - LA Times
