Kurdish forces taking part in the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) militants are besieging a key town to the north.
(BBC)- Peshmerga fighters have surrounded Bashiqa, which lies on a crucial supply route only 12km (8 miles) from Mosul, on three sides, a commander said.
But the threat of suicide bomb attacks means they are advancing with caution. The Iraqi military has meanwhile denied that Turkish forces are involved in the battle for Bashiqa.
Turkey’s government said on Sunday that troops stationed at a nearby base had provided artillery support following a Peshmerga request.
This is the second time that the Peshmerga have tried to seize control of Bashiqa. Last week, they had to abandon the attack after fierce fighting with heavily armed IS militants inside the town.
But now they seem to be making progress, says the BBC’s Richard Galpin in the Iraqi Kurdish capital, Irbil.
A senior Peshmerga commander, Gen Said Hazhar, said Bashiqa had been “encircled” and his troops were digging trenches around the town in preparation for an assault, the Kurdish news agency Rudaw reports.