Kurdish forces free seven villages in Iraq: officials

[Little Tich]

Source: Yahoo! News / AFP

Washington (AFP) - Western-backed Kurdish fighters freed seven villages from the clasps of the Islamic State group in northern Iraq in recent days, the US-led coalition battling the jihadists.

But the extremists still control broad swathes of land in the war-torn country, where the IS group has waged a terrifying offensive of forced religious conversions and beheadings.

Bolstered by coalition airstrikes, the Peshmerga fighters wrestled back more than 200 square kilometers (80 square miles) near the town of Tuz since August 26, the Combined Joint Task Force said.

Planes and drones conducted a total of 25 strikes, helping the Kurdish forces in "liberating seven villages," a statement said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-forces-free-seven-villages-iraq-officials-020609988.html

[tabasco]

1. I'd like to see the Kurds get their own country.

Nothing is easy in that part of the world. The Kurds seem to be some tough bastards.

[Brother Buzz]

4. Having skin in the game makes them tough

And I believe they will ultimately achieve total autonomy, but it will be a long slog, and messy finalizing boarders to everyone's satisfaction. Securing the northern Iraqi oilfields is the key to their future.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Considering that the Pentagon recently stands accused of blowing sunshine up our skirts

as far as the ISIS fight goes (the IG is investigating), one has to take any self-reported successes with a grain of salt.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. good