By Idris Okuducu
MOSUL, Iraq (AA) – Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Monday stormed into Iraq’s northern town of Bashiqa as part of an ongoing offensive to oust Daesh militants from Mosul.
According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, Peshmerga forces have entered the town’s center from three axes and are pounding Daesh positions there.
Military experts from the U.S.-led coalition are providing support for Peshmerga forces advancing into the town, the reporter said.
Bashiqa, whose residents are mostly Yazidis, lies 12 km (8 miles) to the northeast of Mosul.
Turkey has a long-standing training mission based at Bashiqa, where soldiers have mentored both Kurdish Peshmerga and tribal fighters. The airbase has created tension between Baghdad and Ankara amid calls from Iraqi lawmakers for Turkey to close the base.
Last month, the Iraqi army — backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes — launched a wide-ranging operation aimed at retaking Mosul, the last Daesh bastion in northern Iraq, from the terrorist group.
In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory.
