launched from jordan and the uae. a very defiant signal here from the french. we may well see more of this in the days ahead, wolf. i suspect we will. what about the kurds, the peshmerga? you were with them in recent days. they captured the formerly isis-held city of sinjar. are they getting ready to step up their military assault against isis as well? reporter: well, sinjar was key. not only because of its symbolism, wolf, you and i remember the damage done, the atrocities done against the yezidis who once lived there, kicked out and brutalized by isis last year. the peshmerga recapturing sinjar is vital. mosul in iraq and another key city held by isis. slap on route 47, the main supply route between the two towns. now the peshmerga sat on that route and the leaders say they re facing toward mosul potentially as another target.
what i can tell you about our exact movements. what we can tell you is the offensive is headed from the north from there are horrifying of images of people fleeing for their live last year. and also from the east and west, along a key road. it s strategically important. the coalition pummeled areas last night but also previously according to press reports. through that city runs a vital road, known by many as route 47, which heads from the capital through to mosul, the city they seized last year. many saying their two-state self-declared caliphate.
attack to push daish out of that area and push route 47, which is the principal east/west running mode of communication between raqqah and that s an important development. it continues to indicate how with american air power, coalition advice, partners like the peshmerga and other elements within those four nationings are able to make real ground. it seems as if the peshmerga right now are your most re reliable. the kurds are your most reliable partners now. why are we not arming them directly? well, they are being armed. not directly by the u.s. well, they re being they have been armed. 14 nations have been providing support to them. one of the reasons we came to iraq, one of the reasons we committed ourselves, was to restore the territorial integrity of iraq and the sovereignty of the iraqi government over all of iraq. and so we may not be directly providing them assistance, the
i think it would be probably confusing, given their at times complex fighting relationship with the other groups, particularly the syrian kurds who fought for kobani, in evidence in the northeast of syria. they re the ones focused on raqqah for the potential fight ahead. you see the peshmerga blocking any attempt for isis to move back into iraq, if they re successful in holding this part of the highway. we saw limited retaliation and defense from isis, maybe because they re waiting for a better time, maybe because they re weak, maybe because they don t want to fight for this particular town, but they still could have a say in whether or not the peshmerga get to hold that vital route 47, wolf. nick paton walsh, amazing job as always. please, please be careful over there as this war is continuing. you just had an exclusive interview with the now former chief u.s. military adviser to