Kurdish forces recapture villages in northern Iraq from IS militants

A coalition of Iraqi army, Shi'ite militia fighters and Kurdish troops recapture Sunni villages that had been under the control of Islamic State militants south of the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk.

Islamic State fighters had used positions in the villages to fire mortars.

On Tuesday Iraqi Kurdish forces captured a strategic border crossing from Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq, scoring gains as the militants were pounded by heavy U.S.-led air strikes.

U.S.-led forces have been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and expanded the campaign to Syria last week. It's part of an effort to defeat the fighters who swept through Sunni areas of both countries, killing prisoners, chasing out Kurds and ordering Shi'ites and non-Muslims to convert or die.