Advertisement

Kurds Launch New Assault On ISIS

09:53
Download Audio
Resume
Iraqi Kurdish forces take part in an operation backed by U.S.-led strikes in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on November 12, 2015, to retake the town from the Islamic State group and cut a key supply line to Syria. The autonomous Kurdish region's security council said up to 7,500 Kurdish fighters would take part in the operation, which aims to retake Sinjar 'and establish a significant buffer zone to protect the (town) and its inhabitants from incoming artillery.' (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi Kurdish forces take part in an operation backed by U.S.-led strikes in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on November 12, 2015, to retake the town from the Islamic State group and cut a key supply line to Syria. The autonomous Kurdish region's security council said up to 7,500 Kurdish fighters would take part in the operation, which aims to retake Sinjar 'and establish a significant buffer zone to protect the (town) and its inhabitants from incoming artillery.' (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images)
Rami Khouri is a founding member and senior policy fellow of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Rami Khouri is a founding member and senior policy fellow of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Kurdish troops opened an offensive today to try to retake the town of Sinjar in Iraq from the Islamic State. ISIS overran the town in August 2014, forcing tens of thousands of minority Yazidis to flee.

That prompted the U.S. entry into the conflict that is now raging across Iraq and Syria. There are many other outside players involved in that overall conflict now, but how are the countries in the region viewing what's going on? Here & Now's Indira Lakshmanan asks Rami Khouri, an analyst with roots in the region.

Guest

This segment aired on November 12, 2015.

Advertisement

More from Here & Now

Listen Live
Close