Iraqi and Kurdish security forces Monday jointly recaptured Iraq's largest dam in the country's northern province of Nineveh after battles with Islamic State (IS) militants.
Iraqi special forces teamed up with the Peshmerga Kurdish fighters and recaptured the Mosul Dam on the Tigris river, about 70 km north of the provincial capital city of Mosul, which the militants had seized last week, Xinhua quoted a military official as saying.
The troops, backed by joint air support, indulged in fierce clashes with the IS militants and are now in full control of the strategic dam, the official said.
On Sunday, a Kurdish security official had said that the Kurdish troops were involved in fierce clashes with the militants around the dam and by the evening, the troops had started seizing the eastern part of the dam.
The Kurdish troops were moving slowly as the militants planted dozens of roadside bombs on the roads leading in and out of the site, the official said.
The Mosul Dam, as well several towns and areas in Nineveh province, are part of the disputed areas which are ethnically mixed with Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens and others.
The Kurds have demanded expansion of their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and other areas in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh, Salahudin and Diyala, but their demand is being fiercely opposed by the Baghdad government.
Early June, the Peshmerga took control of the disputed areas, including the northern city of Kirkuk and Mosul Dam in Nineveh after the Iraqi security forces abandoned their bases.
The Islamic State, previously known as Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), starting from June 10 seized large swathes of territories in Iraq's predominantly Sunni provinces.
