"The bridge of Khazer is controlled by the two sides," a Kurdish military official told AFP. The report could not be independently confirmed and reporters operating from the Kurdish side were not allowed into the area.

"The Iraqis launched this morning a counter-attack with tanks; they fired mortar and artillery rounds on the peshmergas (Kurdish fighters), US airstrikes were called in" to back the Kurds, the official said.

Witnesses confirmed that planes bombarded the area all day, and said US special forces, tasked mainly with guiding air raids for close ground support, were deployed along with the peshmergas some 10 kilometers (six miles) from the frontline.

The Kurds captured Friday the Khazer bridge that opens the road to Iraq's main northern city, Mosul, after more than 24 hours of fighting and massive airstrikes.

They also captured three Kurdish villages colonised by Arab settlers that the Iraqi army had abandoned. The Kurdish forces did not enter those villages and deployed on hills overlooking them.

An Iraqi artillery barrage forced the Kurds to withdraw from the hills in the evening.

SPACE.WIRE