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Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have gained ground against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, potentially clearing an escape route for persecuted minorities remaining on and near Mt. Sinjar.

The offensive, begun this week, paired the aerial assault with thousands of Kurdish peshmerga fighters in what Kurdish officials called the largest attack so far in the fight against the militants, also known as ISIS.

ISIS elements are starting to flee and leave the area; their morale is very low, Masrour Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan regional governments security council, said in a statement late Thursday. He called it the biggest military operation so far conducted against ISIS the biggest victory of the peshmerga in this war.

Islamic States August siege of Mt. Sinjar drew international attention and eventually prompted President Obama to approve the campaign of airstrikes -- nearly 1,400 to date -- after thousands of members of the local Yazidi minority community were trapped. Many were subsequently able to flee the area, though others remain.

Humanitarian aid flowed into the area and Yazidis fled into the Kurdish region and neighboring Syria, where they were later pushed out again by fighting.

This is a war that the peshmerga are fighting on behalf of the rest of the world, Barzani said, adding that Kurdish fighters proved that protecting innocent lives, the principles and values of democracy and respect for other religions is much more important than the destruction and killing machines that ISIS has brought to this country.

Rear Adm. John F. Kirby of the U.S. Navy confirmed reports that the airstrike campaign, dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve, had killed several Islamic State leaders, although he would not identify them or their rank within the extremist group, except to say that their deaths damaged the groups command structure.

Combined efforts like these are having a significant effect on Daeshs ability to command and control, to resupply, and to conduct maneuvering, Kirby said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The 53 airstrikes at Sinjar destroyed Islamic State buildings, bridges, guard towers and vehicles, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, the Kuwait-based commander of the campaign, said Thursday.

Fifteen more airstrikes followed Friday four in Syria and 11 in Iraq, including near Mt. Sinjar and to the east in Tal Afar, striking Islamic State units at both locations, according to a statement from the U.S. military.

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Kurdish fighters in Iraq make headway in battle against Islamic State