Kurdish forces capture Iraqi villages from ISIS


Kurdish officials say Peshmerga forces attempting to capture Mosul from the Islamic State launched an attack against militants early Sunday.
A commander said 12 villages have been taken from ISIS, and Kurdish forces are headed to the target of the operation, Gwer, 25 miles southeast of Mosul, Reuters reports. In a statement released through its news service, ISIS said two militants detonated car bombs in one village to block the Kurdish troops, killing some Peshmerga; Kurdish officials did not confirm any deaths. Mosul is the largest urban area under the control of ISIS, and the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting ISIS said preparations for the offensive on Mosul are "approaching the final phase."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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