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FIGHTERS from the Islamic State rebel group (IS) wrested control of the Iraqi town of Sinjar near the Syrian border from Kurdish forces at the weekend.
“The peshmerga have withdrawn from Sinjar and Daash has entered the city,” said Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party official Kheiri Sinjari.
“They have raised their flag above government buildings.”
Other officials confirmed the fall of the town, which lies between the Syrian border and Mosul, which has been under IS control since June 10.
“The peshmerga have withdrawn to mountain areas and are getting reinforcements,” a high-ranking source in the peshmerga said.
Sinjar had been acting as a shelter for thousands of people displaced by the huge offensive IS launched in the region nearly two months ago.
“Thousands of people have already fled, some to nearby mountains still under Kurdish control and also towards Dohuk in autonomous Kurdistan,” a PUK official said.