The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In an official statement published August 2, 2014 on its Twitter page (@Nynwa_news), the Islamic State (IS) in Ninawa Province declared the launching of an operation "to raid and occupy the border region between Ninawa province and Dahok Province [in Iraqi Kurdistan]. "
The statement claimed that IS forces have taken over many areas that were controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga, that they have reached the place where the Iraqi, Turkish and Syrian borders meet, and that they intend to complete the takeover of the entire region (of northern Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan). The operation may mark the start of an IS campaign to occupy strategic areas in northern Iraq following the organization's successes in central Iraq and Al-Anbar province.
According to the statement, on the morning of August 2, IS forces raided many areas northwest of Ninawa Province that had been controlled by "the Kurdish gangs and secular militias" [i.e., the Peshmarga and the Asayish, the Kurdish security apparatus], and, after a day of fighting using a range of weapons, they managed to cause the "infidel enemies" dozens of casualties and defeat them. Many of the Kurdish fighters fled, abandoning their cars, armored vehicles and a large amount of weapons, which were seized by the mujahideen. The statement says further that the IS took over areas in the region of Al-Zammar, as well as the big Tumarat military base, the oil-rich Ein Zala area, and many villages.
The statement concludes with a declaration that the IS does not intend to stop there, but will continue to expand: "The IS brigades reached the Iraq-Syria-Turkey border junction, and we pray to Allah the Almighty that he allow the mujahideen to complete the occupation of the entire region..."
Twitter pages associated with the IS claim that the organization has also seized the Sinjar area from the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army. As proof, the Ibn Al-Rafidayn Twitter page (@4omaz76) posted the photo below, of an armed man (apparently an IS fighter) sitting in the Peshmerga offices in Sinjar in front of a picture of Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barazani.
The "Minbar Al-Khilafa" Twitter page (@minbar_k) posted a photo of armored vehicles allegedly seized by the IS from the Peshmerga forces in Sinjar.
Another page of IS supporters (@nsss822) claimed that high-ranking Peshmerga commander Hayini Abdullah Khoshnaw was killed in a battle with the IS.
On August 3, 2014, the IS in Ninawa Province posted another statement on its Twitter page, saying that its forces have reached regions northwest of the province and have completed the takeover of the Sinjar area. It also stated that the IS has taken the environs of Al-Rabia in the Tal Afar area, as well as the town of Wana, near Mosul, from the Peshmerga and Asayish forces.
