Alwaght- Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces managed to enter the central districts of Bashiqa city as part of operation to liberate the northern city of Mosul.
The Assyrian city lies on the eastern arm of the four axes entering Mosul that fell to ISIS domination at the same time Mosul did in 2014.
Ghiath el-Srouji, a security official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the Peshmerga fighters entered the center of Bashiqa on Monday morning.
He told Iraq’s al-Sumaria news website that the Peshmerga forces are currently engaged in clashes with the ISIS terrorists in the town, saying a number of terrorists have been killed so far.
Srouji said Bashiqa will be liberated from the ISIS terrorists in the coming hours.
Earlier on Monday, a source with the Peshmerga said the fighters had launched an operation to retake the town, which had been surrounded by the Kurdish forces for days.
Kurdish forces had launched heavy artillery and mortar attacks against the terrorists in the town on Sunday, before starting to advance into the town. More artillery and aerial strikes hit the town early Monday.
The Iraqi national army along with the police and volunteer forces as well as Kurdish Peshmerga launched a comprehensive operation to liberate Mosul that is considered the last remaining ISIS stronghold in the country.
