Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have retaken five villages east of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in an operation launched early on August 14.
In a statement, the Kurdish region’s Security Council said U.S.-backed Kurdish forces aim to "clear several more villages" in a bid to increase pressure on the extremist group.
The council's statement said an area of about 50 square kilometers had been cleared. It said the U.S.-led coalition is supporting the operation with airstrikes, one of which destroyed a car bomb.
Peshmerga Brigadier General Dedewan Khurshid Tofiq on August 14 described the operation as "ongoing."
Footage filmed by Rudaw, a local Kurdish-language television network, showed smoke rising from a village, with armored vehicles in the foreground.
Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, was seized by Islamic State in a bloody offensive in mid-2014.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has vowed to recapture the city by the end of this year.