Baghdad, Dec 10 (IANS): The Peshmerga military forces of Iraq's Kurdish semi-autonomous region said Wednesday that up to 727 Kurdish fighters have been killed fighting the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group.

A statement issued by the Peshmerga said that 727 of its members were killed and 3,564 wounded in battles against the IS since the extremist group started a blitzkrieg in June, according to Xinhua. It also said that 34 Peshmerga members officially went missing.

The Kurdish Peshmerga fought back the IS militants immediately after the radical group swept through the country's northern province of Nineveh. The jihadi group later seized swathes of territory in other Sunni provinces, including disputed areas, after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts.

The disputed areas are ethnically mixed with Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens and other minorities.

The Kurds have demanded expansion of their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and other areas in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh, Salahudin and Diyala, but their move is being fiercely opposed by the government in Baghdad.