![\"mosul-dam-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/mosul-dam-2-300x219.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nFox News<\/a> reports that the Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi government forces have taken back the Mosul dam from the ISIS\/ISIL\/Islamic State insurgents. US officials say that US aircraft aided the Kurds and Iraqis;<\/p>\n The retaking of the entire dam complex on the Tigris River and the territory surrounding its reservoir is a significant victory against the Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS, which seized large swaths of northern and western Iraq this summer. It is the first major success for Iraqi and Kurdish forces since U.S. airstrikes began earlier this month. <\/p>\n The dam and its broader complex hold great strategic value as they supply electricity and water to a large part of the country.<\/p>\n Alarmed by the militants’ advance, the U.S. and Iraqi airstrikes pounded the area over the past two days. U.S. officials told Fox News that American forces conducted nine strikes on Saturday and another 14 on Sunday in efforts to help the Iraqis retake the dam.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However, the ISIS\/ISIL\/Islamic State spokesman denies that they’ve lost control of the facility, according to the Associated Press<\/a>;<\/p>\n Soon after the news broke, the Islamic State group, which two weeks ago captured the Mosul Dam spanning the Tigris River just north of the city of Mosul, denied the claim, insisting it was still in control of the facility.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, I suppose, given that folks in that region are given to hyperbole, especially in the media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"