The strikes targeted massive convoys of ISIS vehicles including pickup trucks, minibuses, and cars.
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On Thursday, an American spokesperson confirmed that coalition and Iraqi planes had attacked two ISIS convoys – one on late Tuesday night and a second on Wednesday.
A video purporting to show a major air attack on Isis militants near Fallujah has been released.
The coalition destroyed an estimated 55 vehicles from a convoy that had gathered in areas south-west of Fallujah and a further 120 in an area north-west of the city, he said. Iraqi security forces fly a fleet of Russian helicopter gunships that include the Mi-28 and the vaunted Mi-24 Hind.
The US-led coalition, which first launched air strikes on the Islamists in Iraq last August, claims to have destroyed 565 IS targets in 106 air raids over the last week.
On the battlefield, the USA -led campaign against ISIS has moved up a gear in recent weeks, with the government declaring victory over ISIS in Fallujah.
Hundreds of Islamic State fighters were suspected to have escaped the city during the month-long operation, according to Iraqi commanders.
“More than 20 helicopters took part in the mission and were able to destroy more than 138 vehicles”, Iraqi army commander Lt. Gen. Hamid al-Maliki said. Now, it’s estimated to control only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.
For several weeks, US intelligence officials have described the IS group as being “at its weakest point since its rapid expansion”.
The U.S. Navy has played a central role conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State, including attacks from the USS Harry S. Truman while in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this month.
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In 1991, after boxing in a massive convoy of Iraqi soldiers and equipment on a strip of Iraq’s Highway 80 between Basra and the Kuwaiti border, US warplanes proceeded to rake the military traffic jam for nearly half a day, killing hundreds and destroying thousands of vehicles. The chairman of the Khalidiya district council said Thursday that Iraqi forces ambushed and captured more than 200 terrorists for the Islamic State – also known as ISIS or Daesh – who were trying to flee from the Jaraishi area toward Thirthar, the news site Maalomah reported. A source told the BBC the convoy was apparently fleeing Fallujah, where government forces have recently declared victory, and were heading through the desert to regroup near Syria, where their position is stronger.
