TwitterA former Peshmurga volunteer has shared images of the Kurdish military vehicles that will be sent into battle to fight against ISIL.
The Kurdish military, alongside US forces, are about to launch an attack on the Islamic State troops that captured the Iraqi city of Mosul and have since been reigning terror on the city and its 1.5 million residents.
The Peshmurga has taken the initiative to upgrade their Soviet era military vehicles with some missile launchers and DIY defensive grills, and they wouldn’t be out of place driving along Fury Road.
https://twitter.com/PeshmergaEU/status/786251235242352640?lang=en
The vehicles are part of Operation Conquest – or Operation Fatah – which is an ongoing offensive against Islamic State’s positions in Mosul and the surrounding region.
Mosul has been has been the headquarters of the ISIS self-declared caliphate in northern Iraq since 2014.
The main offensive is expected to begin at the end of this month and will decide the fate of Iraq. It will also be seen as a defining moment in President Barack Obama’s time in office.
FlickrTurkey – part of the American coalition against ISIS – has been training Sunni Muslim and Kurdish Peshmerga units at Bashiqa in northern Iraq.
Turkish forces – the second largest armed forces in NATO – hope the trainees will be at the frontline of the upcoming offensive.
https://twitter.com/PeshmergaEU/status/783756194074820614?lang=en
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech in Istanbul, saying:
We will use all our resources to prevent our brothers in Syria and Iraq from being crushed under the wheels of global power games, and to keep us from suffering a similar fate.
We are determined to deflate the balloon of sectarian conflict aimed at drowning the region in blood and fire.
https://twitter.com/PeshmergaEU/status/785932859097747456?lang=en
Our thoughts are with the brave soldiers and innocent residents of Mosul at this difficult and tumultuous period which shrouds the region with violence.
Although military action is a terrible last resort at these times of unrest, we hope Operation Conquest means the region will see peace again soon.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.