Kurds launch offensive to retake city captured by IS

Up to 7,500 fighters participate in major operation aided by US

Iraqi Kurdish forces backed by US-led strikes launched a major operation on Thursday to retake the town of Sinjar from the Islamic State group and cut a key supply line to Syria.

Severing the supply line would hamper the jihadists' ability to move fighters and supplies between northern Iraq and Syria, two countries where IS has overrun significant territory.