Kurdish fighters have reportedly entered Sinjar in northern Iraq, a day after launching an offensive to retake it from Islamic State (IS) militants, the BBC reports.
The Kurdistan Regional Security Council said in a tweet that Peshmerga forces had entered “from all directions” and were clearing the town of IS.
The Kurdish offensive is supported by US-led coalition air strikes.
When it captured Sinjar last year, IS killed or enslaved thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority.
Tens of thousands of others became trapped on nearby Mount Sinjar without food or water for days until they were rescued by Syrian Kurdish forces. The risk of genocide was a key factor in the US decision to launch air strikes in Iraq.
The offensive to retake Sinjar began in earnest at dawn on Thursday, with some 7,500 Peshmerga fighters closing in on three fronts after coalition warplanes bombed IS positions, command-and-control facilities and weapons stores.