AL-QOSH, Iraq: Iraqi Kurdish fighters backed by US warplanes have retaken the country’s largest dam from Islamic State (IS) militants, as Sunni Arab tribesmen and security forces fought the militants west of Baghdad.

The recapture of Mosul dam marks the biggest major prize clawed back from IS insurgents since they launched their offensive in northern Iraq in early June when they swept Iraqi security forces aside.

IS militants also came under air attack in their Syrian stronghold of Raqa on Sunday, a monitoring group said.

Buoyed by the air strikes US President Barack Obama ordered last week, Kurdish forces are fighting to win back ground they had lost since the start of August, when the IS militants went back on the offensive north, east and west of the city of Mosul, capturing the dam on August 7.

Earlier Sunday, US warplanes and drones pummelled the militants fighting against the Kurdish advance.

The US Central Command reported that the military had carried out 14 air strikes during the day near the dam, which, located on the Tigris river, provides electricity and irrigation water for farming to much of the region.

CENTCOM said the strikes destroyed 10 IS armed vehicles, seven IS Humvees, two armored personnel carriers and one IS checkpoint.

An AFP journalist saw towers of smoke rising from the area of the dam, apparently from the sites of strikes.

In western Iraq’s Anbar province, security forces backed by Sunni Arab tribal militia, who announced a new effort against the jihadists on Friday, made gains west of the provincial capital Ramadi, police said.

Fighting was also taking place near the strategic Euphrates Valley town of Haditha, located near another important dam, police Staff Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sadag said.

The rallying of more than two dozen Sunni tribes to the government side marked a potential turning point in the fightback against the IS and their allies.

In the north, members of minority groups including the Yazidis, Christians, Shabak and Turkmen, remain under threat of kidnapping or death at the hands of the jihadists.

On Friday, IS fighters killed around 80 Yazidi Kurds in the village of Kocho near the northwestern town of Sinjar, Kurdish officials said.