Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters unite to fight ISIS in Kirkuk Iraq, troops repelling an assault by ISIS militants southwest of Irbil after hours of heavy fighting, Kurdish officials told CNN. The two sides were battling so close that Coalition warplanes were unable to interfere. ISIS fighters had threatened to overrun Kurdish defensive positions in the area but the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters forced ISIS to retreat in the early hours of Wednesday, allowing airstrikes to begin. Kurdish officials said Kurdish forces suffered several casualties, but that many ISIS fighters were killed especially when airstrikes began. On Tuesday, ISIS attacked the towns of Gwer and Makhmour from several directions. Attacks were likely aimed at drawing the Kurdish forces in different directions to relieve the pressure on Mosul, which ISIS seized in June. Kurdish forces recently have been trying to surround Mosul to cut off ISIS' lines of supply from Syria, setting up what could be an eventual assault to try to expel the terror group from the city. In January, nearly 30 Peshmerga fighters were killed in the area by a surprise ISIS attack across the river.
