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MAKHMOUR FRONT, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish forces were on high alert to defend against counterattacks by the Islamic State (ISIS), as the Iraqi Army began an offensive on the Mahmour front to liberate villages southeast of Mosul.“In case the Iraqi Army offensive fails, we are here and on high alert to defend against possible Daesh counterattacks,” said Najat Ali, a Peshmerga Commander in Makhmour, referring to ISIS by its derogatory Arabic name.“We will not let Daesh inflict harm on our frontline,” he told Rudaw.The Iraqi army and its Sunni militia have so far captured the two villages of Kermadi and Kudyla, southwest of Makhmour, reportedly without any resistance from the militants, a local source told a Rudaw reporter.A Rudaw reporter saw Iraqi soldiers pull out casualties from a military vehicle and rush them behind the lines, after their truck was hit by a mortar. Peshmerga commander Yadigar Hijran said it was not clear if the vehicle was hit by the enemy or the Iraqi’s own friendly fire.Baghdad has gathered some 2,000 soldiers on the Makhmour front over the past few weeks. US Marines have also set up a front-line base that they call “Fire Base Bell” in the vicinity,” where a soldier was killed this month by an ISIS mortar.The deployments are believed to be in anticipation of a planned offensive to liberate Mosul – Iraq’s second-largest city and the ISIS stronghold in Iraq – which has been under ISIS control since June 2014.Ali said that Iraqi Army fired on ISIS bases in the area had already weakened the militants, who he said had withdrawn from many parts of the area.He also said Coalition airstrikes are in a great support of the ground forces, cutting routes for an ISIS retreat to their strongholds.“They (ISIS) only have numbers of suicide attackers with car bombs inside the villages and they are very likely to be used against the forces,” Ali said.Local officials announced that the Iraqi army and Sunni militants are planning to liberate about 13 villages including some strategic areas that ISIS used to attack Peshmerga forces from there.Peshmerga commanders said they were there to defend their own lines and provide support to the Iraqis if needed.Some Peshmerga soldiers watching the fight appeared unimpressed by the Iraqi forces’ fighting abilities.Ali Ahmed, a Peshmerga soldier, criticized Iraqi colleagues for approaching villages on foot, saying that was wrong because they could be targeted by ISIS snipers. “They should approach the villages in armored vehicles, not on foot,” he said.Honar Harki, another Kurdish soldier watching the fight, grew impatient with the slow Iraqi advance.“We should just tell them to give us their missiles and we’ll do the work and liberate those villages for them,” he said.