Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq say they have driven Islamic State group from more than 140 square kilometers of territory near oil-rich city of Kirkuk
Despite booby traps, Peshmerga fighters say they're happy to be retaking territory from terrorists
Kurdish forces backed by airstrikes from a U.S-led coalition drove Islamic State militants out of nine villages in northern Iraq on Friday, Kurdish authorities said. But the militants left behind numerous roadside bombs that killed many Kurdish fighters and volunteers as they entered those villages. Roger Wilkison narrates this report for VOA's Kurdish service by Dilshad Anwar.
Iraq's Army told the family of Samir Murad he was killed in battle with the Islamic State. In fact, he was captured by the militants and killed in a spectacle before a group of Sunni tribal leaders in Fallujah.
Samir Murad, a Shi'ite Kurd with Iraqi national army, was trying to stop advance of Sunni extremists near Fallujah when he disappeared
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.
