Kurdish forces in Iraq have launched a raid against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in the town of Hawija.
The clashes occurred 66km west of Kirkuk on Friday night and left a number of ISIL fighters dead, the Kurdish Rudaw news agency reported on Saturday, citing police officials.
It reportedly involved US special forces.
The report said the raid was launched to free Peshmerga soldiers from ISIL but it was not clear whether any were found.
The US has denied taking part in the security operation, which reportedly left Hussein Umari Assafi, an ISIL commander, dead.
The news comes as government forces advanced in the strategic city of Ramadi, taking over on Sunday the government complex and driving out ISIL fighters.
Al Jazeera's Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil, quoted sources as saying that the Iraqi authorities now control at least 60 percent of the city. But ISIL fighters are also giving a fierce resistance, leaving roadside bombs and deploying suicide bombers.
In October, a joint US-Kurdish raid in Hawija freed about 70 hostages from ISIL, who were purportedly being prepared for execution.
At least six ISIL fighters were arrested in that raid and another 20 killed.
A US soldier was also killed during the clashes.
ISIL is reported to be holding a large number of Peshmerga soldiers, Iraqi security forces and civilians from minority groups.
It frequently conducts mass executions, which it films for its propaganda purposes.
ISIL also holds hostages for ransom or exchanges them for its own prisoners held by Kurdish security forces.
ISIL captured Hawija during its offensive in the summer of 2014, along with most of western Iraq and parts of Kurdish-controlled territory in the north.
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