Kurdish fighters retake Sinjar

Militia forces face little resistance from Islamic State group in major offensive

Kurdish forces said they had secured strategic facilities in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on Friday as part of an offensive against Islamic State militants that could provide critical momentum in efforts to defeat the jihadist group.

"ISIL defeated and on the run," the Kurdistan regional security council said in a tweet, using an acronym for Islamic State. It said the peshmerga had secured Sinjar's wheat silo, cement factory, hospital and several other public buildings.