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Mala Qara, Iraq In the bright January sunshine, Kurdish fighters pose for photographs and dance around an armored vehicle seized from Islamic State militants in Gwer, a small but strategic town in northern Iraq.

The mood was far more somber earlier this month after a surprise IS attack left dozens dead, highlighting the vulnerability of Kurdish peshmerga forces and their regional capital, Erbil, where American military and civilian personnel are based.

Backed by US air power, Kurds have beenlargely on the offensive against IS since last summer. Kurdish forces have clawed back territory andpainstakingly restored their warrior image. Butthroughout January, IS forces have carried out stinging attacks along the frontline of northern Iraq, demonstrating their capacity to modify tactics and threaten Kurdish gains.

There were some gaps in our security, but weve taken care of all these gaps and this will never happen again, vows Qadir Qadir, a peshmerga commander in Gwer, where the frontline is demarcated by the Upper Zab river.

Kurdish commanders reckon they can see off the renewed IS assaults, but admit this depends on ongoing US-led coalition airstrikes. And they stress they are badly in need of improved weaponry in the fight against IS, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said the military campaign against IS was working.This effort will take time, Obama told Congress. It will require focus. But we will succeed."

The surprise IS attack began after dusk on the night of Jan. 9, with 160 militants crossing the foggy river on 15 boats provided by Sunni Arab villagers. In total,IS forces launched nine attacks in the sector of Gwer and Makhmour, two towns on the outskirts of Erbil, where forces are under the command of Sirwan Barzani.

Mr. Barzani says the attack was foiled with the help of coalition airstrikes, the arrival of a quick reaction force of 615 men, and the guidance of nine US military advisers present in the area at the time.

Many of the Kurdish combatants say the assault exploited a technology gap between the two sides.In all of my sector, which covers 230 kilometers, we dont have any thermal or night vision goggles, explains Mr. Barzani, nephew of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. They [IS fighters] are always using new technologies, so we have to be weary about that because they are not an easy enemy at all. They are really dangerous.

New IS tactics include the use of armored vehicles and Humvees to stage suicide attacks a lavish sacrifice in the eyes of outgunned peshmergas and a potent reminder that the IS stockpile includes weapons seized from the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

Excerpt from:
Iraq's Kurds scramble to fend off new Islamic State assault