Casualties in northern Iraq as Daesh, Peshmerga fight

Daesh terrorists have killed four Peshmerga soldiers and a civilian, and wounded six other people in an attack near Qara Salem village in northern Iraq.

Reuters news agency cited security sources while the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said in a statement that Sunday's attack caused casualties, but did not confirm the toll.

One Peshmerga colonel said Daesh fighters were using hit-and-run tactics in night attacks on their positions.

"They avoid holding the ground for longer time ... More reinforcement forces were dispatched to the area to prevent further attacks," the colonel said.

Iraqi security forces units have been mobilised to the area to help the Peshmerga, said an Iraqi military source.

Daesh takes over village

The terror group also also took over Luhaiban village in northern Iraq a day after attacking it, security sources told Reuters. 

There was no immediate confirmation from Iraqi authorities.

The two villages are in remote territory claimed by the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the government of the autonomous northern Kurdish region in Erbil where there are regular attacks by Daesh. 

But it is a rare incident of Daesh militants controlling a residential area near a main road, a highway that links Erbil to the city of Kirkuk.