Figures released by US officials said more than 250 Islamic State combatants were killed and at least 40 vehicles destroyed, making it the deadliest strike against the enemy to date.
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Dozens of IS vehicles were hit in airstrikes by the USA -led coalition and the Iraqi air force south of Fallujah, 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Airstrikes have killed at least 250 Islamic State fighters in Iraq, both Iraqi and US officials reported Thursday. A suspected 175 ISIS vehicles were hit in the two sets of airstrikes, according to Col. Christopher Garver.
The central Iraqi city of Fallujah was retaken from the Islamic State on Sunday after a month-long campaign by the Iraqi military and special forces, joined by Shiite militia and backed by US-led coalition air support.
Tharthar is a lake north of the Euphrates surrounded by desert through which ISIS fighters still have lines to reach Mosul, the country’s second city and their last remaining major Iraqi hub.
Iraqi forces were backed up by USA airpower in retaking the city. U.S. media reported that American airstrikes were responsible for the attack, while the BBC said the Iraqi air force bombed the IS fighters.
“Our aim is to cut Syria from Iraq” by capturing Boukamal and surrounding areas, al-Saloum said by telephone. Islamic State social media accounts posted photographs and videos showing brutalised bodies, the beheading of one fighter and small quantities of captured, US- supplied weaponry.
Brig. Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operation Command, said Iraqi helicopters and warplanes attacked the convoy on a road about 12 miles south of Fallujah on Wednesday.
The rebels said the operation was coordinated with Iraqi forces who were advancing on the crossing from the other side of the border.
One of the senior defense officials said “we’re still assessing the strikes and gathering details” but the number of fighters killed is “consistent with our early assessments”. News on Wednesday. “I’d be surprised if Daesh is not trying to carry out that kind of attack in the United States”.
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. Now, it’s estimated to control only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.
“IS are masters at going to ground and living to fight another day”, Rabkin said, adding that while the Iraqi military has learned to recapture towns and cities from IS, the extremists will continue to be a threat once they go underground.
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Iraq secured a deal Wednesday for a $2.7 billion U.S. loan to finance the buying of ammunition and maintenance of tanks and fighters used in the fight against the Islamic State group.
