A picture taken through a machine gun sight on Aug. 17, 2015 shows buildings that were damaged during fighting between Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and the Islamic State (IS) group’s militants in Sinjar. (SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) The Islamic State (IS) group’s lightning takeover of much of the Ninewa province district of Sinjar, and the cataclysm against the Yezidi population that followed, sparked the first major foreign interventions into the anti-IS war last year.But fifteen months on, Sinjar remains occupied by the IS group. Kurdish militias, Yezidi fighters, and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga forces have gathered at nearby staging areas to retake the territory, but the offensive has been delayed … This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .