US, Coalition Airstrikes Stop Islamic State Militants 'In Their Tracks’

US and Coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria, using fighter and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes. Separately, US and Coalition military forces conducted six airstrikes in Iraq, using fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL, according to a US Central Command (CENTCOM).

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — United States and Operation Inherent Resolve coalition military forces stopped the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorists in their tracks with 15 airstrikes conducted in Syria and Iraq, according to a US Central Command (CENTCOM) statement on Wednesday.

“US and Coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria, using fighter and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes,” the statement said. “Separately, US and Coalition military forces conducted six airstrikes in Iraq, using fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] terrorists.”

In Syria, airstrikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle near Al Hasakah, and three ISIL tactical units and seven IS fighting positions near Kobani, the statement said.

Airstrikes in Iraq decimated two ISIL tactical units and an IS fighting position near Al Asad; two IS tactical units, multiple ISIL checkpoints, 11 IS buildings, two IS armored vehicles, and seven ISIL vehicles near Mosul; and an IS mortar system near Ramadi, the statement added.

The airstrikes were a part of Operation Inherent Resolve, whose goal is to eliminate IS militants and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the Middle East, and the rest of the world, according to the statement.

The IS is a Sunni militant group that has taken over large portions of Syria and Iraq, and declared a caliphate there. The United States and the anti-IS coalition began carrying out airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq in August 2014, and expanded the air campaign to Syria in September, though without Syrian government approval.