Iraqi Kurdish forces on Monday launched an assault on a jihadist-held town near the northern city of Mosul, close to the site of a controversial Turkish military deployment, a commander said.

"Our forces began an attack on the Daesh gunmen remaining in the centre of the Bashiqa (area) this morning at 6:00 am," said Major General Bahram Yassin, a commander of the Kurdish peshmerga forces in the area, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

"We have been besieging them in the centre of the town for more than two weeks," Yassin said.

The assaulting Kurdish forces attacked from the north, east and south of Bashiqa, which is located east of Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq that the country's forces are battling to retake.

Turkey has forces deployed in the Bashiqa area, an issue that has caused major friction between Ankara and Baghdad.

Ankara has insisted on playing a role in operation to retake Mosul, which was launched on October 17, and has carried out artillery strikes against IS from the Bashiqa area.

The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has close ties to Ankara, but relations between Turkey and the federal government in Baghdad have grown steadily more tense over the troops issue.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has repeatedly demanded that Turkey remove the forces, while top Turkish officials have flatly refused to do so and made a series of dismissive statements about the Iraqi premier.

IS overran Mosul and swathes of other territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained much of that ground from the jihadists.

25 killed in Iraq suicide bombings claimed by IS
Kirkuk, Iraq (AFP) Nov 6, 2016 - Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 50 in two cities north of Baghdad on Sunday, officials said.

One bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at the southern entrance to Tikrit, while another other blew up an ambulance at a car park in Samarra, possibly in concert with a third bomber.

The Tikrit attack killed at least 15 people and wounded at least 33, while at least 10 died and at least 25 were wounded in Samarra, security and medical officials said.

Iranian pilgrims were among the victims in Samarra, which is home to a major Shiite shrine that was bombed in 2006, setting off a wave of brutal sectarian violence.

IS issued a statement claiming Sunday's attacks, but said there were three suicide bombers: two who struck Samarra and the third who attacked Tikrit.

A police lieutenant colonel also said there was a second bomber who attacked the car park in Samarra, but other sources only mentioned one in the city.

The IS statement identified two of the bombers as "Al-Moslawi" -- a nom de guerre that would indicate they were from Mosul, though it could be a propaganda attempt to link militants from other areas with the ongoing battle for Iraq's second city.

Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul, the jihadist group's last major urban stronghold in the country, in a massive operation that was launched on October 17.

IS has carried out a series of diversionary attacks since the start of the Mosul offensive in a bid to draw both attention and forces away from the battle.

But aside from the names of the two bombers, the IS statement made no reference to Mosul.

The Sunni extremist group overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air support have since regained significant ground.

Iraq Kurds hand over Japan national suspected of IS ties
Arbil, Iraq (AFP) Nov 7, 2016 - The authorities of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Monday handed over a Japanese national detained last month on suspicion of ties to the Islamic State jihadist group.

"On October 19, 2016, a Japanese national, Mr. Kohsuke Tsuneoka, also known by the nom de guerre Shamil K. Tsuneoka, was detained... for links to the Islamic State," a statement from the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said.

It said the Japanese man was detained near Mount Zardak, a strategic hill east of the city of Mosul.

Mosul is the jihadists' last major bastion in the country and Iraqi forces, including Kurdish peshmerga, launched a huge multi-pronged offensive to retake it on October 17.

"An investigation by our Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) found he was in contact with ISIL members through his smartphone," the statement said, using another acronym for IS.

"Our security services remained in dialogue with Japanese authorities throughout his detention about the potential charges against him. It was decided to hand over Mr. Tsuneoka to Japanese authorities," it said.

The KRSC said the man left the country Monday via the main airport in Arbil, the capital of the Iraq's Kurdish region.

Tsuneoka was described in local media reports at the time of his arrest as a journalist who had come to the region to cover the offensive on Mosul.