A soldier of Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, guards the front line outside the town of Bashiqah, some 30 km northeast of Mosul, Iraq, on Nov. 7, 2016. Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, freed Monday a town from the Islamic State (IS) militants near the city of Mosul, a Kurdish security source said. The Peshmerga forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, started in the morning their operation to storm the town of Bashiqah, some 30 km northeast of Mosul, and managed to seize the town after fierce clashes during the day, the source from Peshmerga told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. (Xinhua)