This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/iraq.html

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Sunni and Kurdish Forces Battle for Control of Northern Iraqi Towns Sunni and Kurdish Forces Battle for Control of Northern Iraqi Towns
(35 minutes later)
ERBIL, Iraq — As Sunni and Kurdish forces battled on Thursday for control of towns west of Erbil, the regional capital of northern Iraq, civilians fleeing the fighting flooded the airport here and swamped the Iraqi Airways office in a futile attempt to get tickets to Baghdad.ERBIL, Iraq — As Sunni and Kurdish forces battled on Thursday for control of towns west of Erbil, the regional capital of northern Iraq, civilians fleeing the fighting flooded the airport here and swamped the Iraqi Airways office in a futile attempt to get tickets to Baghdad.
In the early hours of Thursday, forces from the Kurdish pesh merga left checkpoints guarding several largely Christian settlements because they had been called to defend Kurdish towns closer to Erbil, according to a colonel in the Kurdish Defense Ministry.In the early hours of Thursday, forces from the Kurdish pesh merga left checkpoints guarding several largely Christian settlements because they had been called to defend Kurdish towns closer to Erbil, according to a colonel in the Kurdish Defense Ministry.
By late Wednesday night, Kurdish television was reporting that Mahmour and Gwar, two Kurdish settlements less than 20 miles west of Erbil, had fallen to Sunni extremists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. By Thursday morning, a colonel in the pesh merga said that Mahmour had been retaken, while militants remained in control of Gwar.By late Wednesday night, Kurdish television was reporting that Mahmour and Gwar, two Kurdish settlements less than 20 miles west of Erbil, had fallen to Sunni extremists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. By Thursday morning, a colonel in the pesh merga said that Mahmour had been retaken, while militants remained in control of Gwar.
The latest ISIS push followed its pattern of exploratory attacks on the outskirts of an area it wants to take. On Wednesday, it repelled Kurdish efforts east of Mosul, which is 60 miles west of Erbil, and shelled Qaraqosh, which is one of several largely Christian settlements in the area. As plumes of smoke drifted across the plains of Nineveh, 25 miles west of Erbil, panicked residents fled from the settlements there in cars and pickup trucks piled with belongings, creating lines more than half a mile long at checkpoints guarded by the pesh merga.The latest ISIS push followed its pattern of exploratory attacks on the outskirts of an area it wants to take. On Wednesday, it repelled Kurdish efforts east of Mosul, which is 60 miles west of Erbil, and shelled Qaraqosh, which is one of several largely Christian settlements in the area. As plumes of smoke drifted across the plains of Nineveh, 25 miles west of Erbil, panicked residents fled from the settlements there in cars and pickup trucks piled with belongings, creating lines more than half a mile long at checkpoints guarded by the pesh merga.
On Thursday, many villagers who had not already left departed hurriedly, throwing just a few items in suitcases, said Father Amar, a Syrian Catholic priest from Bartella, one of the largely Christian settlements, who left with them. Shortly afterward, he said, he had spoken to some who had decided to remain, and they reported that ISIS had taken the town.On Thursday, many villagers who had not already left departed hurriedly, throwing just a few items in suitcases, said Father Amar, a Syrian Catholic priest from Bartella, one of the largely Christian settlements, who left with them. Shortly afterward, he said, he had spoken to some who had decided to remain, and they reported that ISIS had taken the town.
Father Amar said that there were “thousands” of Christian and Arab families marooned at the main pesh merga checkpoint trying to enter the Kurdish region on Thursday morning. No one was being allowed to pass, he said.Father Amar said that there were “thousands” of Christian and Arab families marooned at the main pesh merga checkpoint trying to enter the Kurdish region on Thursday morning. No one was being allowed to pass, he said.
West of Mosul, some of the huge wave of Yazidis who had fled into the mountains near Sinjar have been rescued, David Swanson, a spokesman for the United Nations, told Reuters. Reports had reached Erbil that more than 200,000 Yazidis had left Sinjar with nothing except what they were wearing. West of Mosul, some of the thousands of Iraqi civilians who fled into the mountains around the town of Sinjar have been rescued, United Nations officials said Thursday, but details of the operation remained sketchy.
Mr. Swanson, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq, called the situation “a tragedy of immense proportions.” “Some people have been extracted over the past 24 hours,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesman in Geneva for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, but he could not confirm how many had left or where they had been taken.
“We’ve just heard that people over the last 24 hours have been extracted and the U.N. is mobilizing resources to ensure that these people are assisted on arrival,” he said. “Over the past couple of days, almost 200,000 people have made their way northwards to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Dohuk Governorate, or to disputed border areas” in Nineveh Province, he said. “We have also received reports that thousands more may have fled across the border into Syria, and are waiting to cross back into Iraq, but I have no concrete confirmation of that.” United Nations officials have estimated that 10,000 to 40,000 were trapped in the mountains after ISIS defeated Kurdish forces in the area and attacked Sinjar three days ago.
A spokesman for Unicef in Geneva, Christopher Tidey, told Reuters that most of the families in the mountains remained stranded. Yazidis had asked the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to airdrop supplies to them because they could not leave the mountains without being intercepted by ISIS. Most of the civilians are believed to be members of the Yazidi minority, which, like other ethnic and religious minorities in the area, has already been the target of abductions by ISIS forces, according to the United Nations. Reports had reached Erbil that more than 200,000 Yazidis had left Sinjar with nothing except what they were wearing. Yazidis had asked the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to airdrop supplies to them because they could not leave the mountains without being intercepted by ISIS forces.