ISIS on the run! Kurdish forces on the move towards Mosul!

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have retaken a bridge and several villages around Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region, and pushed fighters from the Islamic State back towards Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Islamic State had destroyed a bridge that linked the two cities back in August, hoping to prevent opposition forces from advancing on Mosul, but the Peshmerga forces found a roundabout way through mountainous terrain to attack the terrorist forces.

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The battle between 1,000 Pershmerga and 100 Islamic State fighters began with artillery and mortar fire, and the United States played a crucial role in the operation, using airstrikes to shatter Islamic State positions. The U.S. military reported that there were two U.S. airstrikes that took place northwest of Irbil, targeting armored vehicles and fighting positions.

"At least two jets were flying the entire time that we were there," said CNN producer John Fiegener, who was embedded with the Peshmerga.

Kurdish forces estimated that they killed between 20 and 30 fighters from the Islamic State. Between six or seven members of the Kurdish force were killed in explosions, and the Peshmerga did not reveal if they had captured any fighters from the Islamic State.

Even with overwelming firepower against them, the Islamic State attempted one of its dastardly acts of terror, attempting to drive a tanker vehicle laden with explosives at the attacking forces.

"ISIS had a tanker full of explosives that they tried to drive into the Peshmerga," Fiegener says. It caused a "really huge explosion," followed by a "very large cloud of dust."

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