Kurdish forces retake part of Mosul Dam, with help from US airstrikes

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish forces have recaptured part of Iraq’s largest dam, with the help of U.S. and Iraqi airstrikes.

But a Kurdish commander says his fighting forces are so poorly armed that they won’t be able to hold onto captured territory without a fast infusion of weapons or additional U.S. airstrikes.

The Mosul Dam was captured by Islamic State militants earlier this month. The dam on the Tigris supplies electricity and water to a large part of Iraq.

Retaking the entire dam and the territory surrounding its reservoir would be a significant victory against the Islamic State group, which has seized swaths of northern and western Iraq and northeastern Syria.

The U.S. military says it carried out 14 airstrikes in the area today, damaging or destroying 10 armed vehicles, seven Humvees, two armored personnel carriers and one checkpoint.

U.S. Central Command says a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones hit targets near the dam.

%@AP Links

127-c-14-(Shelley Adler, AP correspondent)-“and one checkpoint”-AP correspondent Shelley Adler reports U.S. Central Command says a combination of bombers, fighter jets, attack planes and unmanned drones hit targets near Iraq’s largest dam in Mosul. (17 Aug 2014)

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APPHOTO BKM104: A Kurdish peshmerga fighter prepares his weapon at his combat position near the Mosul Dam at the town of Chamibarakat outside Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Aug 17, 2014. Kurdish forces took over parts of the largest dam in Iraq on Sunday less than two weeks after it was captured by the Islamic State extremist group, Kurdish security officials said, as U.S. and Iraqi planes aided their advance by bombing militant targets near the facility. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (17 Aug 2014)

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APPHOTO BKM106: A Kurdish peshmerga fighter stands guard near the Mosul Dam at the town of Chamibarakat outside Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. Kurdish forces took over parts of the largest dam in Iraq on Sunday less than two weeks after it was captured by the Islamic State extremist group, Kurdish security officials said, as U.S. and Iraqi planes aided their advance by bombing militant targets near the facility. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) (17 Aug 2014)

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