Air strikes on ISIS group fighters fleeing after their defeat in Fallujah have destroyed more than 260 vehicles and killed at least 150 Islamists, Iraqi officers said yesterday. If the figures are confirmed, the attack would be among the most deadly ever against the jihadist group. Both Iraqi officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss operational details.
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The source could not give an exact number of vehicles nor human casualties, but American media reports cited a preliminary estimate of at least 250 suspected dead militants and at least 40 destroyed vehicles.
Iraqi forces have begun working toward Mosul after their victory in Fallujah this week against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the Syrian Democratic Forces are tightening a cordon around Manbij in an operation led by the Syrian Arab coalition, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today.
On Thursday the United Nations children’s fund warned that IS’s invasion and the military operation to unseat them have had a “catastrophic impact”, with some 4.7 million Iraqi children in need of humanitarian assistance.
Al-Boukamal was considered the last remaining key supply and communications routes for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria between its branches in Iraq and Syria.
Under bombardment from the US-led coaltion ISIL has lost Tikrit, Ramadi, and most recently Fallujah, to Iraqi government forces.
“Over the last two days, the Iraqi security forces and the coalition conducted strikes against two large concentrations of (ISIS) vehicles and fighters”, Pentagon spokesman Matthew Allen said. Among the melee of civilians leaving the city were as many as 2,000 terrorists, who mingled with the tens of thousands of displaced persons who drove or walked to the town of Amiriyah Fallujah, a medium-sized city 20 miles South of Fallujah on the Euphrates River.
Iraqi forces retook full control of Fallujah, just 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, after a vast operation that was launched in May. Several rebel factions have taken part in the operation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Wednesday his country will overcome terror groups, including Kurdish rebels and ISIS, which have intensified their attacks. It has been the site of vicious fighting in recent weeks as Iraqi government forces fight to reclaim control.
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The Russian Air Force has been striking IS targets from its Khmeimim air base since autumn 2015 to help the Syrian Army gain ground in its four-year war on terror.
