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Arbil, Iraq: Iraqi Kurdish forces on Wednesday launched a broad offensive backed by mass bombing from US-led coalition warplanes to retake the northeastern Sinjar area from the Islamic State group.

In neighbouring Syria, the bodies of 230 people from a tribe that rose up against the jihadists in the Deir Ezzor region have been found in a mass grave, a monitoring group said.

Sixty-one air strikes were carried out in Iraq since Monday, some of the heaviest bombardment since a jihadist onslaught on the Sinjar region prompted the first US air raids four months ago.

The US military said "45 strikes were conducted in support of the peshmerga (Kurdish army) and Iraqi security forces operating in the region".

Most of the other raids were also in northern Iraq, destroying dozens of bulldozers, vehicles, checkpoints, enemy fighting positions, enemy fighters, and equipment.

The peshmerga said eight areas had been recaptured in the initial phase of its offensive on Wednesday and around 80 IS fighters killed.

On social media, Kurdish fighters posted pictures of each other posing in front of dead bodies.

Among the goals of the operation is the Sinjar area, home to many members of the Yazidi minority before jihadists attacked in early August and forced most of them to flee.

The risk of a genocide against the Yazidis was one of the reasons US President Barack Obama put forward for launching the aerial campaign against IS.

- Syria Mass Grave -

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Iraq Kurds, Coalition Jets in Major Push to Retake Sinjar Area

LONDON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Developing the oil export potential in the Kurdish region of Iraq will help secure the future of a united country, the British energy minister said Wednesday.

Iraqi, Kurdish and other regional players gathered in London for an investment conference, two weeks after agreements in Iraq ended long-standing disputes over who has what level of control over the nation's oil sector.

British Energy Minister Matthew Hancock said investors need to stand by Iraq now that security and the political climate have improved. By 2040, he said, Iraqi crude oil production could triple to just over 8 million barrels per day.

"Reserves in Kurdistan play a significant role in this increase," he said. "Development and export opportunities in the Kurdistan region will play a very important role in the future energy sector of a united Iraq."

Gulf Keystone Petroleum, an energy company with headquarters in London, announced this week it linked oil wells in the Shaikan field to production facilities in the Kurdish north of Iraq.

With its partners at Hungarian energy company MOL, the company said the addition should increase total regional production from a combined average of 24,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 40,000 boepd.

Both companies said crude oil taken from the Shaikan reserve area was making its way to the export market from the Turkish coast.

Exports of Kurdish oil have sparked legal battles between the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad. KRG under the terms of the agreement funnels 250,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad and agrees to use the federal State Oil Marketing Organization for sales.

Security threats posed by the group calling itself the Islamic State and the collapse in crude oil prices may dampen expectations in the Iraqi oil sector short term.

"All parts of the country and population must see investment and the right conditions for prosperity, creating a vibrant private sector," the British official said. "Iraq's economic development will be vital for its political future and stability."

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Kurdish oil vital for Iraq, London says

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