According to IraqiNews, “The clashes between the two sides resulted wounding 4 soldiers among the Peshmerga forces.”

Small arms and heavy weapons were used during the clashes, which lasted for more than 4 hours.

Also in Iraq yesterday at least 19 people, including army soldiers and Shia volunteer fighters, have been killed and scores of others wounded in separate bomb attacks and a shooting incident across the country.

7 Shia volunteer fighters were killed and 20 others wounded after two bombers set off their explosive belts inside the headquarters of pro-government forces in the town of Mishada, located 30 kilometers north of Baghdad, on Thursday afternoon.

Separately, three soldiers lost their lives and eight others suffered gunshot wounds when gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on a checkpoint in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib.

A bomb blast at an outdoor market in the town of Yusufiyah, situated about 32 kilometers south of Baghdad, also killed four people and wounded 12 others.

In the town of Mahmoudiya, two people were killed and 10 others wounded when a bomb explosion ripped through a commercial street.

A bomber also drove his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint in the town of Tarmiyah, situated about 50 kilometers north of Baghdad, killing three soldiers and wounding nine others.

The ISIL terrorists, of whom many are foreign nationals, have taken control of some parts of Iraq’s northern and western regions.

The Takfiris have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas, including mass executions and beheadings.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,100 people were killed and over 1,800 others wounded in terror attacks across the violence-torn Arab state last month, making December 2014 the deadliest month since 2008.