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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