BREAKING NEWS

Kurdish forces enter Iraq's Sinjar town from north

NEAR SINJAR TOWN - Kurdish forces entered the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on Friday after cutting it off from east and west in an offensive against Islamic State insurgents that could provide critical momentum in efforts to defeat the jihadist group.

A Reuters correspondent saw hundreds of Kurdish peshmerga fighters walking into the town and along a main road.

Since the campaign began on Thursday morning, the Kurds have captured more than 150 square km.  from Islamic State, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria and has affiliates in Libya and Egypt.