November 2015 Sinjar offensive
The November Sinjar offensive was a combination of operations of Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK, and Yezidi militias in November 2015, to recapture the city of Sinjar from the Islamic [State of Iraq and the Levant]. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Kurdish forces, who expelled the ISIL militants from Sinjar and regained control of Highway 47, which until then had served as the major supply route between the ISIL strongholds of Raqqa and Mosul.
The offensive was code-named "The Fury of Melek Taus", in reference to Melek Taus, a figure from Yezidi religion.
Background
In August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launched an offensive in Northern Iraq and pushed into Kurdish held areas of Nineveh Governorate, capturing the city of Sinjar, among others.In what is known as the Sinjar massacre, 2,000–5,000 Yazidis were killed in and around Sinjar, while 200,000 civilians fled. Amongst these, some 50,000 Yazidis fled to the Sinjar Mountains, located to the city's north, where they were facing starvation and dehydration. By the end of August, the majority of these 50,000 Yazidis were able to leave the mountains by crossing into Syria through a corridor opened by Syrian Kurdish forces, although several thousands stayed there.
While ISIL held onto Sinjar city and the southern entrance of the Sinjar Mountains, they seized further terrain north of the mountains on 21 October 2014, thereby cutting the area's escape route to Kurdish areas. Yazidi militias who were securing the holy Sherfedîn shrine, had to withdraw into the Sinjar Mountains. The number of Yazidi civilian refugees was estimated at 2,000–7,000. An American source called this new situation a partial ISIL "siege" of the mountain range.
In the course of a first, six-day-long offensive in December 2014, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga took control over a part of the city of Sinjar and parts of the mountains, and expanded their offensive on to Tal Afar. In early 2015, Kurdish forces also pushed closer to the City of Mosul in the Mosul offensive.
The offensive
First day
On 12 November 2015, over 7,500 Kurdish fighters, backed by the US-led coalition, began their offensive to retake Sinjar. Kurdish sources reported that they captured the village of Gabara and also had cut the highway between Sinjar and Syria. According to a Peshmerga official, U.S. and British special forces were also participating in the offensive. According to the same sources, 16 ISIL suicide attacks were thwarted. Later, it was reported that K forces had cut the Sinjar-Baiji and Sinjar-Tal Afar highways, effectively besieging ISIL in Sinjar. A Peshmerga commander hinted that no prisoners would be taken during the operation. ISIL counter-attacked in the western part of Sinjar, while hundreds of Peshmerga were waiting to be deployed in battle. Kurdish forces had secured the wheat silo, cement factory, hospital and several other public buildings in the northern part of the city, with reports that ISIL had fled Sinjar prior to the offensive. However, a Peshmerga official expressed his concern about possible suicide bombers remaining within the city. Kurdish forces also secured of territory around Sinjar from ISIL.At least 30 airstrikes by American warplanes, intended to soften up ISIL's military positions and uproot its fighters, were reported to have occurred on Thursday before the ground attack.
Second day: The retaking of Sinjar city
On the morning of 13 November 2015, the operation's second day, a Kurdish force including Syrian Kurdish YPG forces and Gerila forces of the HPG advanced to the city center from the west. There they were joined by Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces advancing from the east, including the Iraqi Kurdish Zeravani led by Major General Aziz Waisi and independent Yazidi forces led by Heydar Shesho. Subsequently, a stream of armed personnel carriers, Humvees, SUVs and light trucks were moved into the city. With a U.S. A-10 aircraft circling over the city, they took control of the city.Filmmaker Carsten Stormer, who was embedded with the western frontline, reported they didn't face any fighting from the side of the Islamic State: "There was no resistance — I mean zero." He also confirmed the PKK-affiliated troops arrived first in this section, only then to be joined by the Peshmerga. According to The Economist, "IS forces reportedly pulled out of the town after two days of intense fighting, allowing the Peshmerga to walk in virtually unopposed on November 12th."