U.S. officials estimated that 180 Islamic State group fighters were killed in the airstrikes, which were carried out by U.S., British and French aircraft.
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Militants started assaulting Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga positions afternoon, using rockets, vehicle bombs, machine guns and armoured bulldozers, U.S. and Kurdish officials said.
The extremist group mounted the surprise attack with several hundred fighters on three separate locations along the border area dividing Kurdish and Islamic State territories, defense officials said.
Carter also talked with MacFarland and the Iraqi leaders about the new US plan to deploy a special commando force to Iraq.
A US-led worldwide coalition of around 60 nations, including Australia, has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria since August 2014. In a phone interview, Nujaifi said that he was at the camp at the time and that he came under a 2 1/2-hour barrage of mortar fire. “We thought that it belonged to the coalition, but we contacted them and it didn’t”, he said, concluding that it had been flown by Islamic State militants to spot their positions.
A press release issued by War media, the media arm of the Iraqi armed forces on Tuesday (December 15) said that troops of counter-terrorism forces have managed to liberate al-Hukm al-Mahali neighbourhood in the district of al-Taamim and a large glass factory on the western outskirts of Ramadi, raising an Iraqi flag over its tower. One goal is to get allies to take on some of the missions being done by some of the approximately 3,500 USA troops in Iraq, so that those forces can take on more specialized roles.
The U.S. defense official said 100 to 200 Turkish trainers had been at the Zilikahn base since this summer.
The small advisory teams wouldn’t be on the front lines, but would provide better planning advice and coordination for the Iraqi units, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a US military spokesman who noted that many Iraqis “don’t agree with the American presence in this country”.
By finding local anti-ISIL fighters in what he described as “some very unsafe places”, he said he anticipates finding more opportunities with indigenous forces. Some 59 Islamic State fighters were killed.
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The U.S. expects to deliver equipment to Peshmerga fighters who will assist in the retaking of Mosul, arranging for shipment of the equivalent of two brigades worth of arms and ammunition to be used for the “encirclement” of Mosul, Mr. Carter said.
