PKK militants urge all Kurds to fight Islamic State

The PKK on Aug. 5 urged all Kurds to take up the fight against the Sunni militants of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have expanded their advance across Iraq into Kurdish-controlled territory.

“All Kurds in the north, east, south and west must rise up against the attack on Kurds in Sinjar (in northern Iraq),” the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said in a statement on its website.

Islamic State inflicted a heavy defeat on Iraq’s Kurds on Aug. 3 with a rapid advance through three towns to reach the Mosul Dam, the largest in Iraq and a major source of electricity.

“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 PKK said.

The statement came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the air force to provide support to Kurdish peshmarga forces.