[Reuters] Kurdish peshmerga fighter Germad Yihya stood on a small berm overlooking a village where he said Islamic State militants had taken a beating. A line of trees 500 meters away from his position illustrated how he can't afford to be complacent.A day earlier, a suicide bomber had rushed out of the thick green vegetation and killed five of his comrades after Kurdish forces had fought for 10 days to gain the upper hand in Fadiliya, where 1,000 people remain trapped, surrounded by roadside bombs.
On Monday, Kurdish forces fired mortars at the outskirts of the village and there were several exchanges of gunfire. Plumes of smoke rose over the area.
Kurdish fighters told Reuters they had received orders to move in again and take Fadiliya once and for all.
Iraqi and Kurdish forces have cleared more than 30 villages like Fadiliya during their offensive to drive Islamic State from its main Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, in what is expected to be the biggest battle in Iraq for more than a decade.