Jihadists occupying the Iraqi city of Sinjar are so close that Kurdish fighters can see with the naked eye. Their clashes are often limited to shots from hand grenades.

Iraqi peshmerga are not decided to take the assault to retake the Iraqi city of the northwest, where the Kurdish-speaking minority yazidie was chased in the blood there is a little over a year by the jihadist group Sunni Islamic state ultradical (EI).

“Sometimes they speak to us on the radio,” said Hashem Seetayi, a colonel of the peshmerga, the Kurdish forces of the Kurdistan autonomous region located further east. “They tell us that we are Sunnis, and therefore should join them, because they will take the area.”

Despite the proximity, Kurds, protected by sandbags and supported by daily raids by the international coalition led by the United States on the positions of IE, have lamented that six wounded in their ranks since early July.

The Colonel Seetayi contends, however, that in the face, some 1,000 jihadists have died since August 2014 just in the town of Sinjar.

“They apply a smart tactic. They dig holes for their mortars and do not put them out at the time of fire, to be sure not to be spotted by coalition aircraft, “he said.

‘Barely 50 meters’ –

“But they continue to perpetrate bombings car. It makes no sense from a military point of view. We are well positioned, we can stop them, “the Colonel peshmerga.

Since mid-December, and the siege of Mount Sinjar imposed by the jihadists, the front has barely budged. The EI controls the vast majority of the town below, Kurdish fighters taking positions around but within Sinjar.

“This is the closest the EI front of the entire region of Kurdistan. The distance between us, especially at night, is barely 50 meters, “said Youssef Saleh Mosleh, a captain peshmerga information.

But from a strategic point of view, launch the assault is not easy.

For Colonel Seetayi, try to regain Sinjar without launching similar attacks in Mosul and Tall Afar, two major cities in the hands of the IE, too expose his men and would require a massive deployment of fighters.

“The question is not only to resume Sinjar but also can let people return. For that, we must push the IU up to 20 km, beyond the reach of their shells, “he explains.

From its base in Charafeddine, the city with a place of worship yazidi the other side of the mountain, the military leader yazidi Qassem Shesho Sinjar agrees that could be taken in a few days, with “300 combatants”.

“But after we will need 5000 to 6000 peshmerga to defend the entire city,” he said. “The EI is not so strong. When the US, coalition forces and the president (of Kurdistan, Massoud) Barzani decide to release (Sinjar), it will be an easy thing. “

YPG, PKK peshmerga –

On the occasion of the 1st August 3rd anniversary of the jihadist assault, Barzani has vowed to avenge the members of the minority yazidie considered by the EI polytheists as heretics.

Before the advance of IE, tens of thousands of refugees Yazidis were then on top of Mount Sinjar, staying there for a long time without water, food and sometimes temperatures exceeding 40 ° Celsius.

Thousands of men were killed, abducted women, some enslaved by jihadists. The attack, described by the UN as “attempted genocide”, was one of the main arguments advanced by the United States to send aircraft to bombard the IE in Iraq.

The peshmerga hold the front from the total lifting of Mount Sinjar office in December in a raid by Syrian Kurdish fighters (YPG) and Turkish Kurdish rebels (PKK), came to the rescue and widely seen as the saviors of the Yazidis.

YPG and the PKK have maintained a presence in and around the mountain; Besides the portraits of the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the inscriptions to their glory far beyond those supporting Mr Barzani and the peshmerga.

For the forces of Barzani, Sinjar release could be a chance to improve their image, the fate of the city becoming a political issue for the Kurdish groups disputes. Yazidis, themselves, must wait to be back in their homes.