ERBIL: Kurdish troops backed by warplanes battled the Islamic State (IS) group on three fronts in northern Iraq on Tuesday, clawing back land they lost to the militants in recent months.

The Kurdish peshmerga struck before dawn against the town of Rabia on the Syrian border, north of the militant-controlled second city Mosul, and south of key oil hub Kirkuk, officers said.

A senior source in the peshmerga said troops had entered Rabia, after seizing the villages of As-Saudiyah and Mahmudiyah. “Ground troops are now fighting in the centre of Rabia,” which is about 100km northwest of Mosul.

He said peshmerga forces, backed by artillery and warplanes, were also attacking Zumar, about 60km northwest of the city, near the reservoir of Iraq’s largest dam, which has been a key battleground between the Kurds and the militants.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014