(VOVworld) - Supported by U.S.-led airstrikes, Kurdish Iraqi troops on Thursday seized part of a highway that is used as a vital supply line by the Islamic State, a key initial step in a major offensive to retake the strategic town of Sinjar from IS.

Aided by U.S. air strikes, Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces began their push into Sinjar on Thursday. (Photo: AFP/ Getty Image)

Heavy gunfire broke out early Thursday as Peshmerga fighters began their approach amid an aerial bombardment.
About 7,500 Peshmerga fighters closed in on Sinjar from three sides. In addition to taking the town and the highway, the operation aimed to establish “a significant buffer zone to protect the city and its inhabitants from incoming artillery.” Kurdish force took control of some villages in the North of Sinjar and cut some supply routes from Sinjar to Iraq’s Mosul city and Syria. US army intelligence said the Kurdish force will not only face 300 to 400 IS militants but a network of mines they have been setting up for over a year.