On Saturday, Peshmerga fighters advanced toward Tal Rabaa village as they made some of their most significant gains over the past few months.

Heavy exchanges of gunfire coupled with explosions of improvised explosive devices could be heard as ISIL terrorists tried to hold ground.

According to local reports, over 40 ISIL members were killed and nearly 80 others injured during the fighting.

General Yaseen Abdulla of the 9th Peshmerga Brigade said that at least three Peshmerga soldiers lost their lives, while 13 others sustained injuries in the fierce skirmishes with the terrorists.

The Kurdish military commander said Peshmerga casualties were either caused by ISIL snipers or landmines buried around the villages.

The ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently control shrinking swathes of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Ezadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq.

Senior Iraqi and Syrian officials have blamed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Persian Gulf Arab states for the growing terrorism in their countries.

The ISIL has links with Saudi intelligence and is believed to be indirectly supported by the Israeli regime; FNA reported.