reported. The town, which has been surrounded by the peshmerga for two weeks, lies on a crucial supply route some 10 miles northeast of Mosul.Earlier in the day, Brett McGurk, White House envoy to the US-led coalition against Islamic State, said on Twitter that Kurdish peshmerga forces had “launched an offensive to clear Bashiqa” as “Iraqi Army and Special Forces continue push into Mosul neighborhoods.” Peshmerga fighters, backed by US-led coalition air support, swiftly advanced on Bashiqa from three directions after launching an offensive to liberate the town in the early hours of Monday morning. Sihad Barzani, a peshmerga commander, told "Rudaw"http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/07112016 that artillery units were pounding Islamic State positions in the town. Peshmerga forces were met with several Islamic State suicide attacks before clearing the town of the militant group. Credit: YouTube/Rudaw">