Maliki Orders Iraq Air Force to Back Kurds against Terrorists

Local Editor

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered his air force for the first time to back Kurdish forces against the so-called "Islamic State" terrorists after the militants made another dramatic push through the north, state television reported on Monday.

State television and witnesses said that the "IS" had seized Iraq's biggest dam. Kurdish peshmerga officials said they have pushed militants from the dam area and were in control of it. This could not be immediately confirmed.

Despite predictions from Kurdish commanders that their forces would launch a successful counter-offensive, one senior Kurdish official urged the United States to step in and provide weapons "for the sake of fighting terrorism."

In July, the Kurdish political bloc ended all participation in Iraq's national government in protest over accusations that Kurds were allowing terrorists to stay in Erbil, the capital of their semi-autonomous region known as Kurdistan.

"The general commander of the armed forces has ordered the air force command to provide backup for the Kurdish peshmerga forces against the terrorist gangs of the Islamic State," state television quoted Maliki's military spokesman Qassim Atta as saying.

A senior Kurdish official said the Kurds had been overstretched and the "IS" had overwhelming firepower.
"The Islamic State had also been intimidating people by carrying out beheadings," he said.
"It is a very dangerous situation for the region. Something needs to be done soon," said the senior Kurdish official, asking not to be identified.

Despite the odds, Kurdish commanders were talking tough.

One colonel said the Kurdish withdrawal was tactical and forecast that several Kurdish brigades would take back all territory lost on Sunday and even win back Mosul, Iraq's biggest northern city which is firmly in the hands of the "IS".

"We will attack them until they are completely destroyed we will never show any mercy," he told Reuters. "We have given them enough chances and we will even take Mosul back. I believe within the next 48-72 hours it will be over."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team