“The Mosul dam has a strategic military importance being the main supply route between Mosul and the regions of Sinjar and Zumar, which are currently under the ISIL’s command. It gave the ISIL the capability of flooding Mosul and even parts of Baghdad, and drowning hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,” Serdar Doski, the commander of Kurdish Popular Defense Forces, said on Saturday.

“ISIL is a well-trained and -equipped offspring of the US-nurtured al-Qaeda. They have been trained at the hands of bomb experts and are capable of remotely triggering bombs,” Doski added.

According to Kurdish Peshmerga forces, even though the ISIL’s hold on Mosul dam has been broken, the battle is far from over especially as the Kurds have some 3 tons of explosives to dismantle from the dam’s site.

Peshmerga forces are also trying to clear mines and booby traps from the area round the dam.

The strategically important facility had been seized by ISIL militants on August 7. It supplies water and electricity to northern Iraq and there had been fears the ISIL terrorists could use it to flood areas downstream.

The ISIL terrorists have threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Yazidi Kurds and others, as they continue their advances in Iraq. They have been committing heinous crimes in the areas they have taken, including the mass execution of civilians as well as Iraqi army troops and officers.

The Iraqi army, backed by thousands of volunteers, is engaged in fierce fighting with the ISIL militants to push them out of the captured areas.

NTJ/HH