Iraq forces begin Amerli moves against Islamic State

BBC NEWS

The Iraqi army, Shia militias and Kurdish Peshmerga have joined forces to try to free the town of Amerli in northern Iraq, local sources say.

Some 15,000 minority Shia Turkmen in Amerli have been under siege by Islamic State (IS) militants for two months.

The UN called for urgent action last week to stop a massacre in the town, which lies in Kurdish-controlled Iraq.

Islamic State jihadists have been accused of atrocities in areas of Iraq and Syria under their control.

The Shia Turkmen are seen as apostates by the IS militants.

The BBC's Jim Muir, in the city of Irbil, says the combined forces are mounting an assault on two fronts in the Salahuddin Kurdish area in northern Iraq.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are said to be west of Tuz Khurmatu, which lies just north of Amerli, while Iraqi army units and Shia militia are approaching Amerli from the south.

The operation is reported to have two objectives: to break the siege of Amerli and to reopen the main highway leading north from Baghdad.

The road is currently blocked by Islamic State forces.