Attacks against "Islamic State" : Mission conquest

Military Globe - It is the largest offensive yet against the jihadists. In the battle for the Sinjar Mountains 8,000 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga are in use, as many as never before. They are supported from the air by the international coalition. More than 60 countries have committed themselves to it, including the US, Canada, Australia, the major European countries and the Arab Gulf states. Germany supports the coalition with arms sales and military trainers.

About 50 attacks flew the coalition since Monday on positions of the "Islamic State" (IS) in the mountains. Together we succeeded in the IS-ring to break through the mountain range. 700 square kilometers of land to have been recaptured, several high-ranking representatives of the terrorist militia were killed in the concentrated action.

Strategically this development for the Alliance a decisive advantage: the area gain the Kurds can now attack the only highway that connects the IS-hinterland in Syria with the controlled by the jihadists city of Mosul.

At the same time the raid in the Sinjar Mountains is a symbolic success: For weeks, the IS-fighters had there surrounded Yezidi thousands of Iraqis in October. With the fear of an impending massacre of the Yazidi US President Barack Obama finally also justified the intervention of the international coalition against IS. Now large parts of the contested territory seem recaptured.

In Iraq, the joint fight on the ground and from the air against the jihadists so now works quite well. The Iraqi Kurds have regained much of their previously lost territories. The Iraqi army has made progress, especially in the provinces of Diyala and Saladin north of Baghdad zurückerkämpft areas. However, the success also cost substantial sacrifices: Over 700 fighters of the Iraqi Kurds have been killed since June. The Caliphate, as the Islamists call their conquered territories, but shrinks.

In spring, the Battle of Mosul to start

Next year, the mission is to continue: For spring, the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army jointly plan a major offensive, supported by the international coalition.

One of the main goals: The city of Mosul in the north of the country to be reconquered by the end of 2015 from the jihadists. Currently, international military advisers are preparing the Iraqi army for the difficult street fighting. In Iraq, an international division of labor against the IS has arisen - and celebrating successes.

In Syria, the still looks different. Also there is the international coalition air strikes. Ground operations not take place, however convenient for the missing partner.

Although an estimated two million Kurds live in the war-torn country. However, they are more widely dispersed than in the neighboring state, divided into enclaves and cities across the country. A controlled, focused action, as in Iraq is difficult. There, an estimated four million Kurds live in a contiguous area, Iraqi Kurdistan, which has far-reaching autonomy rights.

Really resistance, there are therefore only selectively in Syria. For months, it is possible the Syrian Kurds, the provincial city Kobane (Arabic: Ain al-Arab) in defense along with Syrian rebels and an Iraqi delegation. But much more they can not afford.

Syrians who rebel against the IS are on their own. The international coalition is reluctant to support. Finally, the Syrian Kurds militias are an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is classified by the EU and the US as a terrorist organization. Many Syrian rebels are in contact with groups that are committed to al-Qaeda.

Also on the Syrian army can not set the international coalition. A collaboration with their commander Bashar al-Assad seems impossible. In addition, Damascus has long supported the jihadists. Assad and his fighters are coming under increasing pressure. Recently they were beaten in the northeast of IS-fighters.

In all the jubilation about the successes in Iraq: In Syria, the advance of the jihadists is far from stopped.