A peshmerga commander indicates US forces fighting in Kirkuk with video footage on his phone. Photograph: Fazel Hawramy for the Guardian
The Guardian: Kurdish fighters say US special forces have been fighting Isis for months
US denies peshmerga claims after Obama last year announced redeployment of 300 military advisers to Iraq, saying US combat troops would ‘not be fighting’.
On a damp afternoon in Iraqi Kurdistan, a 29-year-old peshmerga fighter named Peshawa pulls out his Samsung Galaxy mobile phone, flicks hurriedly through his library until he finds the video he wants, and presses play.
The clip, filmed just after dawn on 11 September, shows four tall and western-looking men in the heat of a battle against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. “These are the Americans,” says Peshawa in a secretive tone.
One is crouched behind a machine gun firing round after round from the top of a fortified mound; another lies on his front a few feet away, legs outstretched and taking aim at the enemy with a long rifle. A third wields a long-lens camera taking photo after photo, and the last stands back, apparently overseeing the others during the combat south-west of the city of Kirkuk.
Update: US Special Forces Fight IS Group for Months, Kurdish Forces Say (Telesurtv)
WNU Editor: Cannot say that I am surprised.
Would love to see that picture.
ReplyDeleteThe joke on the ground is, Ther are no boots on the ground because they're all wearing sneakers. Obama mischievously thought this through.
ReplyDelete