Kurdish Iraqis Take Center of Sinjar from Islamic State

Associated Press journalists saw the fighters raise a Kurdish flag and fire off celebratory gunfire in the center of the town Friday morning.

Smoke rises over Sinjar, northern Iraq from oil fires set by Islamic State militants as Kurdish Iraqi fighters, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, launch a major assault. |AP

SINJAR, Iraq: Witnesses say Iraqi Kurdish fighters are in control of the center of the strategic Iraqi town of Sinjar after taking it from the Islamic State group.

Associated Press journalists saw the fighters raise a Kurdish flag and fire off celebratory gunfire in the center of the town Friday morning.

Kurdish militia fighters known as peshmerga launched a major offensive to retake the town and cut a key highway on Thursday.

U.S.-led coalition airstrikes supported the offensive, dubbed Operation Free Sinjar.