Airstrikes kill 100 ISIS militants near Makhmour

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— US-led coalition airstrikes killed at least 100 Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the Gwer-Makhmur region on Monday, an Iraqi military source told Rudaw.

Coalition fighter jets pounded ISIS positions in the village of Kinsh, overlooking the town of Gwer, 60 KM southwest of Erbil, killing more than 100 militants, said the Iraqi military source.

He added that the intense aerial bombardment began when an ISIS convoy started moving in the area.

Separate airstrikes also targeted an ISIS military base in the village of Zawya near Makhmur at 11:45 Monday night.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces and ISIS have been locked in several days of intense fighting in the area after a major ISIS offensive on the town of Gwer was repelled by the Kurds on Saturday.

Also on Monday Kurdish military officials in the region said that their forces had killed six high-ranking ISIS commanders in recent battles with the group.

The Kurdish army has increased its attacks on the radical group on the Nineveh plains outside Mosul while the Peshmerga are engaged in a street battle with ISIS militants in Shingal for the control of the city.

The war on ISIS is getting closer to its main base of Mosul where on Monday Iraqi and coalition jets dropped leaflets on the city, urging people to keep away from the radical group’s bases and report their whereabouts to the army.