IRAQI KURDISH FORCES ADVANCE ON MOSUL

Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy

fire with militants on Monday as they entered a town held by ISIL east of Mosul, while troops advancing south of the city discovered a mass grave containing some 100 decapitated bodies. The offensive is part of the broader push to drive ISIL out of Mosul, relieving those living under its occupation from the type of brutality, such as mass killings, that the group has committed. ISIL militants have carried out a series of massacres since seizing large swaths of southern and central Iraq in the summer of 2014, often documenting them with photos and videos circulated online. South of Mosul, Iraqi soldiers advancing into the town of Hamam al-Alil discovered a pit containing dozens of decapitated skeletal remains, the military’s Joint Military Command said.