Related video of airstikes on Kirkuk, Kurdish Peshmerga forces

As Iraqi forces inched forward in the battle to retake Tikrit from Islamic State fighters, the U.S.-led coalition continued its air campaign against militants in Syria and Iraq on Monday with 13 airstrikes. Among them were strikes on areas south and west of Kirkuk, where VOA Kurdish Service reporter Dilshad Anwar saw evidence of heavy bombardment. Iraq's Kurdish Peshmerga forces then were able to move into areas from which IS militants retreated.