TURKEY – Thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga troops are involved in an offensive to regain formerly Kurdish villages near the ISIS-held town of Mosul, Kurdish officials say.

The Peshmerga-led ground offensive, backed by international coalition air support, was launched early Sunday to retake several villages near Khazir, east of Mosul. The operation includes approximately 5,500 Peshmerga fighters. The move comes ahead of a joint offensive by Kurdish forces and Iraqi troops to retake Mosul, Kurdish media says. Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported that the Peshmerga troops, accompanied by Zeravani Special Forces — a Kurdish paramilitary outfit — picked their way across ISIS-held territory, retaking abandoned villages it says were once populated by Kurds. (CNN/foto: businessinsider.com)…[+]