BAGHDAD — Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, launched an offensive Wednesday targeting the Islamic State group in areas of Iraq that the extremists had captured this past summer.
The operation came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said details haven’t been finalized for a deal that would have his country train rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria, where the militants also hold territory.
A U.S.-led coalition is targeting the Islamic State from the sky in Iraq and Syria, supporting Western-backed Syrian rebels, Kurdish fighters and the Iraqi military on the ground. The strikes have helped halt the extremists’ move to take the Syrian city of Kobani near the Turkish border, and enabled Iraqi forces to make key advances.
The new offensive by Kurdish forces targeted areas in Diyala and Kirkuk provinces, said Jaber Yawer, a peshmerga spokesman. Islamic State extremists had seized the territory in their August offensive that saw them capture a third of Iraq.
