Sunni insurgents, Kurds battle over north Iraq town

By Reuters - Aug 02,2014 - Last updated at Aug 02,2014

BAGHDAD — Islamic State militants fought Kurdish forces on Saturday for the northern Iraqi town of Zumar located near an oil field and the Syrian border amid conflicting reports of who was in control.

Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the Kurdish peshmerga fighters, said his forces controlled Zumar and reinforcements were on the way.

But four residents in different parts of the town said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were in control.

The group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant staged a lighting advance through northern Iraq in June, seizing large swathes of land in the biggest challenge to the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.

Control of Zumar by Islamic State fighters would give them access to the small Ain Zalah oil field and a nearby refinery. The insurgents have already seized four oil fields, which help fund their operations.

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