JINHA

TILHEMÎS – The town of TilHemîs in Cizîrê Canton of West Kurdistan, Rojava, has been cleansed of ISIS groups and fully liberated on the seventh day of YPG/YPJ operations.

ISIS groups had used the TilHemîs area as their headquarters in the canton. The effort liberate the region was launched on the night of February 21 in a joint operation by the YPG/YPJ, units affiliated with the Syriac Military Council, Sutoro forces and Cesh al-Senadid (Army of the Brave), the military force of Arab tribes in the region.

People in Cizîrê Canton have poured out into the streets to celebrate the victory.

While fighters retook 22 villages and some strategic points from ISIS on the first day of the operation, February 23saw 18 villages brought under YPG/YPJ control. The group finished up the liberation operations with 16 villages freed on the 24th, 23 on the 25^th and eight on the 26^th. Today, forces liberated the TilHemîs town center, 8 more villages and strategic points in the area.

Today, on the seventh day of the operation, joint resistance forces carried out an extensive attack on the town center at around 10 a.m. Following fierce clashes, the entire TilHemîs area was cleansed of gangs at around 3 p.m. today. While the number of ISIS casualties today couldn't yet be ascertained, 211 members of gangs have been killed since the beginning of the operation, including the field commanders known as "amirs."

Peshmerga forces supported the operations with artillery attacks from the border of South Kurdistan. Aerial strikes of the anti-Daesh international coalition also contributed to the campaign.

(cm)