Kurdish troops crush IS' 'multi-pronged offensive' near capital Irbil following hours of fighting

Kurdish troops have finally crushed a major, multi-pronged offensive launched by the Islamic State (IS) in the southwest of Irbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq following hours of fighting, Kurdish officials said.

Kurdish commanders said that the IS did threaten to overrun Kurdish defensive positions in the area for a while, but the Peshmerga troops succeeded in pushing them back by 3 a.m. local time, allowing airstrikes to begin, reported the CNN.

They added that nearly 40 IS militants were killed in the fight and Kurdish forces too, suffered several casualties. Airstrikes contributed to the IS deaths, they said.

The offensive began on Tuesday night and continued at close quarters hours after the first assault was launched by the IS at about 9 p.m. local time.

The U.S.-led coalition aircrafts were present in the area but could not hit IS units due to the close proximity of the two sides on the ground.