ANBAR
At least 52 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants have been killed by pershmerga forces, and three pershmerga soldiers died in separate clashes on Wednesday.
Fighting flared up between ISIL and pershmerga groups in the Ar Ramadi and Mosul provinces of Syria.
Al Anbar's security officer Colonel Shaban Berzan Al-Ubeyd said that 23 militants were killed and five vehicles were destroyed in an attack on an ISIL convoy in the Hit region, near the Ramadi province.
Colonel Hamid Senduh also reported that pershmerga forces – with the support of the U.S.-led international coalition -- killed 29 ISIL militants during a clash. Three pershmerga died in another attack at Mosul's Zumar province.
Another 20 ISIL militants were also killed in the Mekteb, Halid and Telalvar regions -- about 12 kilometers south of Kirkuk -- in the clashes between ISIL terrorist group and pershmerga forces, Kirkuk pershmerga Commander Vasta Rasul told the AA correspondent.
The commander said that ISIL's howitzers started a fire in the pipeline carrying oil to Kirkuk's power plant in Iraq.
According to peshmerga sources, the fire was still burning in the pipeline at Kirkuk's Mele Abdullah district.
The sources also reported that pershmerga forces captured seven villages around Kirkuk's Qarah Tapah town, which is held by the ISIL militants, with airstrike support from the United States, while ISIL's assaults around Mosul dam were stopped.
ISIL militants attacked Sahlice village near the Mosul dam. They were hit by coalition airstrikes, and the pershmerga responded with heavy weapons.
Since early November, the Iraqi military has also recaptured many towns and villages in Mosul, Anbar, Saladin and Diyala provinces.
Since mid-June, the Iraqi army and Kurdish pershmerga forces have been pitted against the ISIL militants, who have taken control of large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. is leading an international coalition, which includes France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and has carried out numerous airstrikes against the ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
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