The fate of more than 1,000 Iraqi women captured
by Isis militants remains unclear, as Kurdish troops moved closer to
the city of Mosul, which was taken by Isis in June.
Witnesses said that the captured women, who were of the Yazidi faith, were divided into groups of younger and older women.
The witnesses said they were not aware that Isis had maltreated either group but it appeared that the younger women were intended as so-called brides of Isis fighters if they converted to Islam.
Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces were moving towards targets around Mosul last night and claimed to have taken the strategically important dam on the Euphrates river. It is the largest in Iraq and controls water and electricity supplies to a large part of northern Iraq.
Isis was hit repeatedly by US air strikes, which enabled the Kurds to advance. The US Central Command said a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones launched 14 strikes near the dam, after nine strikes on Saturday.
Kurdish forces are also believed to have recaptured the mainly Christian towns of Batmaiya and Telasqaf, 18 miles from Mosul., the closest they have come to the city since Isis fighters drove government forces out in June.
David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should consider an alliance with Shia Iran to deal with the Sunni extremists of Isis, saying they were seeking to create a “terrorist state” stretching from Iraq to the Mediterranean that could pose a threat closer to home.
He warned that Isis should not be viewed as “a problem miles away from home”, saying it would “only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain”.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-isis-militants-plan-to-marry-captured-yazidi-women-9674922.html
The witnesses said they were not aware that Isis had maltreated either group but it appeared that the younger women were intended as so-called brides of Isis fighters if they converted to Islam.
Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces were moving towards targets around Mosul last night and claimed to have taken the strategically important dam on the Euphrates river. It is the largest in Iraq and controls water and electricity supplies to a large part of northern Iraq.
Isis was hit repeatedly by US air strikes, which enabled the Kurds to advance. The US Central Command said a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones launched 14 strikes near the dam, after nine strikes on Saturday.
Kurdish forces are also believed to have recaptured the mainly Christian towns of Batmaiya and Telasqaf, 18 miles from Mosul., the closest they have come to the city since Isis fighters drove government forces out in June.
David Cameron said yesterday that Britain should consider an alliance with Shia Iran to deal with the Sunni extremists of Isis, saying they were seeking to create a “terrorist state” stretching from Iraq to the Mediterranean that could pose a threat closer to home.
He warned that Isis should not be viewed as “a problem miles away from home”, saying it would “only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain”.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-isis-militants-plan-to-marry-captured-yazidi-women-9674922.html
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