urdish forces say they are making progress in a major offensive they have launched against Islamic State (IS) militants in Sinjar in northern Iraq.

Peshmerga fighters have reportedly taken a strategically important main road near the town that helps connect the IS strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa.

The offensive is supported by US-led coalition air strikes.

When it captured Sinjar last year, IS killed orenslaved thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority.

Tens of thousands of others became trapped on nearby Mount Sinjar without food or water for days until they were rescued by Syrian Kurdish forces. The risk of genocide was a key factor in the US decision to launch air strikes in Iraq.

'Moving carefully'

Coalition warplanes bombed IS positions, command-and-control facilities and weapons stores in the Sinjar area overnight before some 7,500 Peshmerga fighters launched a ground assault around dawn on Thursday, closing in on three fronts.