After Fleeing Advancing Islamic State Forces Humiliated Kurdish Leaders Have Ordered Their Forces To launch A Counter-Offensive

Photograph: Guardian

Humiliated Kurdish Leaders Order Counter-Strike Against Advancing Islamic State Fighters -- The Telegraph

Questions asked about Kurdish Peshmerga troops after extremist militants execute lightening strike and send thousands fleeing for their lives.



Kurdish leaders ordered a major counter-offensive against Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq yesterday after being humiliated by a lightning Jihadist surge into their supposedly “safe” areas.



Tens of thousands of members of the region’s patchwork of minority groups were said to be in flight in the deserts and mountains of the region after Islamic State rebels swept into towns held by Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga.



The Kurdish regional government, which is almost completely autonomous from the central authorities in Baghdad, seemed to be caught unawares by the strike. They ordered reinforcements to the front lines near the captured towns of Zumar and Sinjar, while for the first time fighters from the separate Kurdish forces who operate in neighbouring Syria and Turkey also crossed the border to help.



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More News On Kurdish Leaders And Baghdad Agreeing To Cooperate To Defeat Advancing Islamic State Militants

Kurds Plan Counter-Offensive Against Islamic State - Reports -- RIA Novosti

Iraq gov't backs Kurds, as Kurdish forces retake town from insurgents -- APA

Turkish PKK militants urge all Kurds to fight Islamic State -- Reuters

Isis advances puncture Kurdistan self-confidence -- Financial Times

ISIS Advances on Two Fronts -- Slate

Iraq orders air force to help Kurds fight IS -- Al Jazeera

Iraqi Prime Minister Orders Air Force to Help Kurds Fight ISIS -- NBC

Iraq Air Force Backs Kurds Against Jihadists, Scores Flee -- AFP

Iraq offers Kurds air support in north -- Deutsche Welle

Maliki Sends Iraqi Air Force to Help Kurds Combat ISIS -- The Wire



My Comment: These Kurdish forces did not even fire a shot .... they just fled when the militants showed up. This defeat is a major set-back for Kurds who dream of an independent state. If they are dependent on Baghdad and the West for their security .... they will never be positioned to run a country let alone an autonomous region in Iraq.