Kurdish forces launch offensive to free villages from IS near Iraq's Mosul

Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, carried out an offensive to free villages from Islamic State (IS) militants in east of the IS-held city of Mosul in northern Iraq, while security forces repel IS attack in western the country, security sources said.

In Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, Kurdish forces, covered by U.S.-led coalition aircraft, attacked at dawn IS positions at cluster of villages scattered in east of Mosul sparking heavy clashes with IS militants at the outskirts of the villages of Muftia, Zahra Khaton, Wordic and Tal Aswad, a Kurdish security source told Xinhua.

The Peshmerga members and their armored vehicles managed to enter the villages of Muftia and Zahra Khaton, after driving out the extremist militants, while clashes continued around the other villages, the source said without giving further details about casualties.

Late in March, Iraqi forces and Peshmerga have launched first phase of major offensive and recaptured several IS-held villages in south of Mosul, as part of their preparations to flush out IS militants from Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province.

According to Iraqi officials, the operations to free Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and other IS-held parts of Nineveh province will be carried out by the Iraqi army, Peshmerga, and U.S.-led coalition, with participation of paramilitary units from local volunteers, including Sunni Arab tribesmen.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, Iraqi forces and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal units repelled a pre-dawn attack of dozens of IS militants on the town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The attackers first seized some districts inside the town, while fierce clashes erupted with a police force and tribal fighters, the source said.

Hours later, reinforcement troops arrived and retook control of the town after killing 33 IS militants, including eight wearing explosive vests, the source added.

The attack on Heet came a month and a half after the security forces recaptured the town from IS militants who were in control of the town since 2014.

Separately, international warplanes carried out an air strike on an IS position near Albu Bali area in west of Fallujah, destroying the position and killing eight IS militants, including a local leader, the source said citing intelligence report.

Also in the province, Iraqi security forces completed preparation for final attack to retake the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, while sporadic battles to free the nearby town of Saqlawiyah in west of Fallujah and some other small areas were underway, the source said.

On May 23, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the offensive to claim Fallujah, during a time in which the country is struggling in a chaos to reshuffle the cabinet.

Earlier, the interior ministry said the army has almost accomplished the first stage of tightening siege on Fallujah and will soon start to break into the city.

Government troops and allied militias have currently been fighting for months to reclaim key cities and towns in Anbar from IS militants, who attempted to advance towards Baghdad after seizing most of Anbar province. Endit