Photos show what's left of Sinjar after airstrikes drive out ISIS
With dust settling, Yazidi residents of the town cautiously return to pick up the pieces
Operation Free Sinjar
Kurdish forces, with the aid of massiveU.S.-led coalition airstrikes, liberated the town ofSinjar from the grips of ISIS last week, giving journalistsand former residentsa rare chance to pick through the pieces of the once ethnicallydiverse town.
After the air assault, peshmergafighters launched a major ground offensive dubbed Operation FreeSinjar, raising the Kurdish flag near the centre of town on Nov.13.
Burning and looting
Before it was overrun by ISIS, Sinjar(about 50 kilometres from the Syrian border)and its surrounding villageswashome to about 200,000 mainly Kurdish and Arab Muslims a rare mix of Sunni and Shia as well as Christians and Yazidis.
Now the town is largely deserted
Although many former localscelebrated the victory, Sinjarlay in complete ruins. Local Yazidis, some ofwhomfought with Kurdish forcesfor the town, picked any salvageable items out of the rubble and left because the front line isstill too close to make the townlivable.
Yazidisstrike back
ISIS extremists overranSinjaras they rampaged across Iraq in August 2014, leading to the killing, enslavement and flight of thousands of people from the minorityYazidicommunity, whose members follow an ancient faith thatISIS considers heretical.
Sinjarasignificantbuttenuous victory
The Kurdish forces encountered little resistance, at least initially, suggesting that many of the ISIS fighters may have pulled back in anticipation of last week'sadvance. It was also possible that they could be biding their time beforemaking a counterattack.
ISIS occupiersfled between airstrikes
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, U.S. President Barack Obama pointed to the liberation of Sinjar as evidence the air campaign is makingprogress.Chipping away at ISIS from the air, astrategyendorsed by the president's top security advisers but doubted by many in Congress, isbased on the belief that a heavier, boots-on-the-ground approachwould yield only ashort-lived victory without stronger local armies maintaining stability.
Equal partners, for now
U.S. Air ForceF-15EStrike Eagles taxi at an airbase inTurkey onNov.12 following a bombing run. The United Stateshas six of the fighter jetsdeployed in support of counter-ISISmissions in Iraq and Syria.
Canada also has six CF-18 fighters taking part, but not for long, according to an announcement byPrime Minister Justin Trudeau during the recent G20 summit. Trudeau remains committed to a campaign promise to withdraw our warplanes from the mission.