Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Friday recaptured five villages northern of the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Peshmerga forces liberated the villages after fierce clashes with elements of the terrorist al- Qaeda splinter group of Daesh, said a well placed Peshmerga officer.
The Iraqi army, backed by Kurdish forces and thousands of volunteers, is engaged in fierce fighting with the Daesh militants to push them out of the captured areas.