Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield in victory over Kurds
Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq’s biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping through the region in June.
Capture of the Mosul Dam after an offensive of barely 24 hours could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities or withhold water from farms, sharply raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government.
“The terrorist gangs of the Islamic State have taken control of Mosul Dam after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces without a fight,” said Iraqi state television.
The swift defeat of Kurdish “peshmerga” troops dealt a sharp blow to one of the only fighting forces in Iraq that until now had stood firm against the Sunni Islamist fighters who aim to redraw borders of the Middle East.
The Islamic State, which previously called itself the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIS), also seized the Ain Zalah oil field — adding to four others already under its control which provide funding for operations — and three towns.
The group, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria to rule over all Muslims, poses the biggest challenge to the stability of OPEC member Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.