ISIS Kocar-kacir di Amerli Dihantam Militer Irak Didukung AS
Iraqi Forces Break Through to Besieged Town of Amerli, Ending Two-month Islamic State Siege
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
PASUKAN Irak berhasil menerobos ke Amerli, kota yang dikuasai militan jihad Syiah, yang mengakibatkan ribuan orang terperangkap lebih dari dua bulan yang menderita karena kurangnya pasokan makanan dan persediaan air.
Serangan ini merupakan keberhasilan ofensif terbesar pasukan pemerintah Irak sejak pasukan militan yang dipimpin kelompok jihad Sunni, ISIS, yang menguasai lima provinsi sejak Juni, dan menghalau pasukan keamanan.
Terobosan datang ketika Amerika melakukan serangan terbatas di luar Irak utara untuk pertama kalinya sejak serangan udara melawan militan mulai lebih dari tiga pekan yang lalu, dan pesawat militer dari beberapa negara menjatuhkan bantuan kemanusiaan ke Amerli, seperti dilansir MailOnline.
Penduduk Turkmen Syiah terutama dari kota di provinsi Salaheddin menderita karena kekurangan makanan dan air, dan berada dalam bahaya baik sebagai penganut Islam Syiah, yang dituding sebagai kelompok bid'ah, dan perlawanan mereka terhadap militan, memicu tindak kekerasan di kawasan lainnya di Irak.
'Pasukan kami masuk ke Amerli dan melakukan pengepungan," kata juru bicara militer Irak, Letnan Jenderal Qassem Atta, seperti dilansir MailOnline.
"Ini adalah keberhasilan yang sangat penting," kata Atta kepada televisi pemerintah, seraya menambahkan bahwa pertempuran masih berlangsung.
Operasi itu diluncurkan pada Sabtu setelah persiapan matang di pasukan militer Irak, milisi Syiah dan pejuang Kurdi dikerahkan untuk melancarkan serangan tersebut didukung pesawat militer Irak terhadap kubu militan.
AS telah melakukan serangan udara terhadap militan ISIS di Irak utara dan bantuan kemanusiaan diturunkan dari udara untuk warga sipil yang terperangkap di sana, kata Pentagon.
Presiden Barack Obama mendukung serangan militer tersebut, memperluas operasi AS di Irak di tengah kecaman internasional atas ancaman terhadap populasi Turkmen, mayoritas penduduk di Amerli.
IRAQI forces broke through to the jihadist-besieged Shiite town of Amerli today where thousands of people have been trapped for more than two months with dwindling food and water supplies.
It is the biggest offensive success for the Iraqi government since militants led by the Sunni Islamic State jihadist group overran large areas of five provinces in June, sweeping security forces aside.
The breakthrough came as America carried out limited strikes outside north Iraq for the first time since its air campaign against the militants began more than three weeks ago, and aircraft from several countries dropped humanitarian aid to Amerli.
The mainly Shiite Turkmen residents of the town in Salaheddin province were running desperately short of food and water, and were in danger both because of their Shiite faith, which jihadists consider heresy, and their resistance to the militants, which has drawn harsh retribution elsewhere.
'Our forces entered Amerli and broke the siege,' Iraqi security spokesman Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said, an account confirmed by a local official and a fighter from the town.
'It is a very important success,' Atta later said on state television, adding that there was still fighting in the area.
The operation was launched on Saturday after days of preparations in which Iraqi security forces, Shiite militiamen and Kurdish fighters deployed for the assault and Iraqi aircraft carried out strikes against militants.
The U.S. had carried out air strikes against Islamic State fighters near the town in northern Iraq and airdropped humanitarian aid to civilians trapped there, the Pentagon said.
President Barack Obama authorised the new military action, broadening U.S. operations in Iraq amid an international outcry over the threat to Amerli's mostly ethnic Turkmen population.
