Kurds push deeper in Sinjar but face ISIS resistance

While Kurdish fighters in Iraq have pushed deeper into the town of Sinjar, held by ISIS group, they are facing stiff resistance from the Sunni militants who captured it in August, the Associated Press reported.

One of the fighters, Bakhil Elias, described the overnight clashes which continued till Monday as “fierce” and that ISIS militants are using snipers.

At least two Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been killed by snipers and 25 were wounded in the latest fighting.

Large plumes of black smoke are billowing into the sky from inside the town.

The Kurdish forces say the militants are burning tires and oil to create a smoke screen with the thick dark clouds and obstruct airstrikes against their positions by the U.S-led coalition.

Last week, the Kurdish peshmerga fighters launched the operation to retake Sinjar.

The U.S.-led coalition conducted 10 air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq, Reuters reported the U.S. military as saying in a statement, adding that the strikes hit near the cities of Sinjar, Asad, Tal Afar, Ramdi, Mosul and Falluja.

Meanwhile, the 12 air strikes in Syria centered around the border town of Kobani as well as Aleppo, Hasaka and Raqqa, destroying various fighting positions, vehicles and a group of fighters, the Combined Joint Task Force said.

(With Associated Press and Reuters)