MAKHMOUR, Iraq — As US warplanes are launching rounds of airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Iraq, Kurdish peshmerga armed forces appear to be gradually preparing to launch counteroffensives to regain areas they conceded to the jihadist group.

Since Aug. 2, IS militants made forays into the peshmerga-controlled territories of the Ninevah plains, seizing control of the key areas of Sinjar, Zummar and Wana in western Ninevah, and moving into the towns of Hamdaiya, Telkayf, Bartalla and Bashiqa on the north and east of Mosul. IS also made gains in Makhmour and Gwer, roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital city, Erbil. As of Aug. 10, Gwer had returned to peshmerga control.

The US military has confirmed that its aircraft have attacked IS positions around Makhmour and Sinjar since Aug. 8, and Kurdish forces say IS militants have also been targeted near Khazir, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Erbil.

“US airstrikes have strengthened the peshmerga’s morale,” said a close aide to a senior peshmerga commander on the Makhmour front, who did not want to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. “The peshmerga are now waiting for an order to attack IS positions and move forward. They are waiting for the zero hour.”