Kurdish soldiers in Iraqi Army feel comforted on frontline near home
As Shkak Omar, a young Kurdish commander in the Iraqi Army stepped into an armored vehicle with fellow Iraqi soldiers to monitor fighting on the Makhmour front south of Erbil, he reflected on being a Kurd in an army dominated by Arabs. It is here in the flat plains that the Iraqi Army began an […]Arina Moradi writes for Rudaw:
As Shkak Omar, a young Kurdish commander in the Iraqi Army stepped into an armored vehicle with fellow Iraqi soldiers to monitor fighting on the Makhmour front south of Erbil, he reflected on being a Kurd in an army dominated by Arabs.
It is here in the flat plains that the Iraqi Army began an offensive a week ago to liberate strategic villages that are seen as the gateway to the liberation of Mosul, which has been the ISIS stronghold in Iraq since the militants seized the major Iraqi city in June 2014.
Although the Kurdish Peshmerga are not involved in the latest fighting in Makhmour and are there for support, the fighting for Mosul is expected to have the Peshmerga fight together with Iraqi forces and backed by the US-led coalition.
Iraqi Army Kurdish soldiers said they felt at home in the ongoing offensive in Makhmour, because they are fighting on their own terrain and are comforted by the Peshmerga watching their backs.
