More than 700 Iraqi Kurd fighters killed since June IS offensive

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region said Wednesday that 727 of its fighters have been killed in the conflict against the Islamic State group since the jihadists launched their offensive in June.

A statement from the region's military forces, known as the peshmerga, said 3,564 members of the Kurdish fighters had also been wounded over the past six months.

The dead and wounded included "officers, non-commissioned officers, members of the Asayish (intelligence agency), of the police and some peshmerga veterans," the statement said.

The peshmerga ministry said the tally covers the six months going back to June 10, the day after IS fighters who already held swathes of land in Syria launched a devastating offensive in Iraq.

The statement said 34 members of the Kurdish security forces are also still reported as missing.