Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition, launch offensive in Iraq

The Washington Post: Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes launched an offensive Thursday to take back Sinjar, the Iraqi town seized by Islamic State militants last year, triggering the exodus of thousands of members of the minority Yazidi sect.

Some 7,500 Kurdish fighters — known as peshmerga — were involved, Kurdish authorities said. They flanked the city from three fronts.

Read article