Kurds claim full control of dam

U.S. aid helps push Islamic State militants from stronghold

Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, make their way to the front line to fight militants from the extremist Islamic State group at Mosul Dam, outside Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Aug 18, 2014. Boosted by two days of U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi and Kurdish forces on Monday wrested back control of the country's largest dam from Islamic militants, a military spokesman in Baghdad said, as fighting was reported to be underway for the rest of the strategic facility. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, make their way to the front line to fight militants from the extremist Islamic State group at Mosul Dam, outside Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Aug 18, 2014. Boosted by two days of U.S. airstrikes, Iraqi and Kurdish forces on Monday wrested back control of the country's largest dam from Islamic militants, a military spokesman in Baghdad said, as fighting was reported to be underway for the rest of the strategic facility. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD -- Boosted by two days of U.S. airstrikes, Kurdish forces said Monday that they had wrested back control of the country's largest dam from militants of the extremist Islamic State group.

Kurdish peshmerga forces regained full control of the dam and its vicinity after two days of fierce clashes, said Halgurd Hekmat, a spokesman for the Kurdish forces.

Earlier Monday, Iraqi army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the dam was secured by Kurdish peshmerga troops and Iraqi security forces, but the southern side of the complex was contested. No one from the Iraqi army was immediately available to confirm that Kurdish forces seized control.

At least 170 bombs have been dismantled around the dam but many more remain, al-Moussawi said in a televised statement. He added that militants fled to areas near the south of the complex, hiding in homes and offices on the premises.

Local residents and others in the area could not immediately be contacted to confirm the security forces' recapture of the dam.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said security forces "liberated a large part of the Mosul Dam" with the help of U.S. airstrikes, adding that forces are working to fully free the entire complex. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said it carried out 15 airstrikes near the dam Monday with fighter jets, bombers and drones.

In an online statement, the Islamic State earlier denied losing control of the dam spanning the Tigris River just north of the city of Mosul, dismissing the government claim as "mere propaganda war." The statement, which could not be independently verified, was posted on a website frequently used by the militants.

The U.S. launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq more than a week ago in a bid to halt its advance across the north. The U.S. military said forces conducted nine strikes Saturday and another 16 on Sunday.

The U.S. and France have agreed to arm Kurdish fighters -- with the U.S. providing light weapons and ammunition. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius refused to specify the type of arms France would deliver, saying only that they would be "sophisticated." The British and German governments have also stated their willingness to supply the Kurds with weapons.

Britain's defense minister was quoted Monday as telling air force personnel that the campaign against the insurgents would last "weeks and months" and was no longer simply a humanitarian affair.

But, in an attempt to allay worries that British troops might be drawn back into full-scale combat in Iraq, Prime Minister David Cameron used an appearance on television Monday morning to stress that there would be limits to Britain's involvement.

"I want to be absolutely clear to you and to families watching at home," he said. "Britain is not going to get involved in another war in Iraq. We are not going to be putting boots on the ground. We are not going to be sending in the British Army."

Defense officials disclosed Monday that a small number of British soldiers had in fact been on the ground in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq last week when Western nations, led by the United States, were contemplating a rescue effort for members of the beleaguered Yazidi religious minority. But the troops were withdrawn within a day of a U.S. assessment that the need for a rescue mission was no longer urgent.

Also on Monday, Pope Francis endorsed the use of force to stop Islamic militants from attacking religious minorities in Iraq but said the international community -- and not just one country -- should decide how to intervene.

Francis also said he and his advisers were considering whether he might go to northern Iraq to show solidarity with persecuted Christians. But he said he was holding off for now on a decision.

The Vatican has been increasingly showing support for military intervention in Iraq, given that Christians are being directly targeted because of their faith and because Christian communities that have existed for 2,000 years have been emptied as a result of the extremists' onslaught.

The dam's seizure by Islamic State militants Aug. 7 was part of a string of victories by the Sunni radical group as it looks to expand its hold in northern Iraq, driving back Kurdish forces, sending minority communities fleeing and unleashing a wave of violence over a territory straddling the Syria-Iraq border.

The decision to launch airstrikes marked the first direct U.S. military intervention in Iraq since the last American troops withdrew in 2011 and reflected growing international concern about the extremist group.

Information for this article was contributed by Vivian Salama, Diaa Hadid, Sinan Salaheddin, Lou Kesten, Robert Burns, Danica Kirka, Andrea Rosa and Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press and by Alan Cowell of The New York Times.

A Section on 08/19/2014

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