23 KURDISH SOLDIERS KILLED IN IS ATTACK

At least 23 Kurdish soldiers were killed and 12 injured during clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in an Iraqi city, media reported.

The military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan were targeted in two different vehicle explosions in areas around the Sinjar Mountains southeast of the city of Nineveh in northern Iraq, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday.

In a separate development, the IS carried out the biggest attack yet on Kurdish positions near the strategic town of Gwer, about 60km from Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan autonomous province, said a Kurdish spokesperson.

Some of the IS fighters came to the town in the early hours of Saturday by boat over the Tigris river before taking control of large parts of the town. However, no casualty has been reported, the Kurdish spokesman added.