US jets bomb ISIL in western Iraq
US fighter jets have conducted more airstrikes against the ISIL terrorist group in western Iraq, according to the Pentagon.
US warplanes and drones carried out multiple strikes on Monday and Tuesday on the militants near the Haditha Dam on the Euphrates River to protect it from ISIL, the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) on Tuesday.
The air assault was in “support of Iraqi Security Forces and Sunni tribes protecting the Haditha Dam” against ISIL militants, USCENTCOM added.
The airstrikes “destroyed or damaged” eight ISIL armed vehicles and several other vehicles, it noted, adding that all jets left the area safely after the air assault.
US aircraft and drones also recently conducted several airstrikes on the militants near the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, according to a Pentagon statement.
In recent weeks, manned and unmanned US aircraft have flown surveillance flights and targeted ISIL strongholds.
Washington has deployed over hundreds of troops to Iraq to bolster security for American diplomats and provide advice to Iraqi government forces fighting the militants.
ISIL controls large parts of Syria’s northern territory. The group sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June, quickly seizing large swaths of land straddling the border between the two countries.
GJH/GJH