Peshmerga forces gain ground against ISIL in Iraq

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have made fresh advances in their operations against Takfiri ISIL militants in the areas near the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Erbil, local media report.

The Peshmerga succeeded in liberating the areas surrounding the towns of Makhmour and al-Gweir, some 28 miles (45 kilometers) from the city, an unnamed security source told Iraqi Shafaq News Agency on Sunday.

The source added that Peshmerga forces flushed out the ISIL terrorists from five villages in the southern border of al-Gweir. The Kurdish fighters inflicted heavy losses on the terror group, killing at least 15 militants and capturing 20 others. They also seized seven vehicles belonging to the terrorists.

Heavy fighting reportedly continues between the two sides in other parts of the region.

Iraqi forces also killed at least four ISIL militants in clashes in the Hawz area in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, reports said.

The ISIL terrorists currently control swaths of territory across Iraq and neighboring Syria. They have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas, including mass executions and beheading of civilians as well as security forces.