Iraqi Kurdish offensive against extremists in Mosul 'ahead of schedule'
Iraqi Kurdish fighters are exchanging heavy fire with militants as they advance from two directions on an Islamic State-held town east of the city of Mosul.
The town of Bashiqa has been surrounded by Kurdish forces known as peshmerga for weeks.
Monday's push appears to be the most serious yet to drive IS from the area, which is about eight miles north east of Mosul.
Kurdish forces launched mortar rounds and fired heavy artillery into the town on Sunday in advance of the offensive.
As the Kurdish forces advance, more artillery and air strikes are hitting the town.
The three-week-long Mosul offensive has slowed down in recent days as Iraqi forces have pushed into more densely populated areas of the city.
Iraq's special forces are suffering casualties as militants bog them down with suicide car bombs, booby traps and close-quarter fighting along narrow streets.
IS still holds territory to the north, south and west of Mosul.
Iraqi government and Kurdish forces, backed by a US-led coalition and joined by government-sanctioned militias, are fighting to drive IS out of those surrounding areas and open additional fronts to attack Mosul itself.
The US special envoy to the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk, said the three-week offensive against the extremists in Mosul was proceeding "ahead of schedule".
Speaking to reporters in Jordan, Mr McGurk said the fight to degrade the group and break up its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq was expected to take about three years.
