article_snippet: Speaking to a local TV channel near the frontline, Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim said the purpose of the offensive was to secure the city, which the Kurds have held since last summer.
article_snippet: Major-General Omar Saleh Hassan said Major-General Omar Saleh Hassan forces faced little resistance from Islamic State militants who are also fighting to hold the city of Tikrit around 110 km southwest of Kirkuk, as Iraqi forces close in.
article_snippet: Just north of Tikrit, home city of executed Sunni former president Saddam Hussein, Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militia fighters began an offensive to regain control over the town of al-Alam.
article_snippet: Military commanders said some of the attacking force were ferried across from the west bank of the Tigris river, while others were approaching from other directions. '
article_snippet: Jubouri, who has spent time with the attacking forces outside al-Alam, said clashes were continuing in the south, west and north of the town of al-Alam.
article_snippet: In an offensive to regain control over the town of al-Alam, elite Kurdish counter-terrorism units were taking part and one official said elite Kurdish counter-terrorism units had managed to detonate four vehicles rigged with explosives by firing on elite Kurdish counter-terrorism units from a distance.
article_snippet: Security forces backed by militia are battling to regain ground, with support from a US-led coalition and Iran.
article_snippet: The Popular Mobilisation units -- which are dominated by Shi'ite militia but include other volunteers, including Sunnis - have played a key role in the  fight, shoring up the government's flagging troops.
highlights_snippet: Kurds launch massive offensive backed by strikes from U.S.-led coalition .
  