PKK urges all Kurds to fight ISIL terrorists in Iraq

The PKK said in a statement released on Monday that all Kurds “in the north, east, south and west must rise up against the attack on Kurds in Sinjar (in northern Iraq).”
 
“All Kurdish political powers must take part in this resistance, shoulder-to-shoulder. When Kurds are attacked, they must show the attackers that they will find all Kurds against them,” the statement added.
 
The statement came a day after the ISIL militants took control of Iraq’s Mosul Dam, an oilfield and three towns, including Sinjar, after driving out Kurdish security forces.
 
Sinjar had sheltered thousands of people displaced by the ISIL violence, which came to the region nearly two months ago.
 
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s.
 
The crisis in Iraq escalated after the ISIL Takfiri militants took control of Mosul on June 10, which was followed by the takeover of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.
 
Soldiers of the Iraqi army have been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants on different fronts and have so far been able to push back the militants in several areas.
 
Iraq’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Qassim al-Moussawi said on Monday that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has commanded the air force to provide aerial support to the Kurdish armed forces.