The airstrikes took place on Monday near Deir al-Zour, an area in eastern Syria controlled by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
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Officials said the reason the attack on oil infrastructure didn’t occur earlier is because of concern over civilian casualties.
ISIS can make up to $US40 million per month through producing and smuggling oil, according to The Times, while one unnamed western oil worker told Reuters in September that “Islamic State makes not less than $US2 million daily that allows them to pay salaries and maintain their operations”.
The attack was aimed at disrupting one of the major sources of revenue for the terror outfit. Four A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes and two AC-130 Spectre gunships pounded the trucks as they clustered near Abu Kamal, a town close to the Iraqi border. This meant that, up until Monday, the IS oil logistics system remained largely intact, but reconnaissance drones had been surveying the area where the trucks assemble for a few time.
In an effort to minimize potential civilian casualties, two F-15 fighter jets dropped leaflets an hour prior to the airstrike, warning drivers to leave the almost-300 vehicles gathered in the target area.
As many as 1,000 trucks have been observed there, waiting to receive their cargo of illicit oil.
“We don’t want to completely and utterly destroy these facilities to where they’re irreparable”, Warren said.
Col Steven H Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led coalition, confirmed that A-10s and AC-130s had been used in the attack and that 116 tanker trucks had been destroyed.
“This part of Tidal Wave II is created to attack the distribution component of Isil’s oil- smuggling operation and degrade their capacity to fund their military operations”, he said.
The United States has upped its intensity in the fight against ISIS, and has targeted airstrikes on trucks used by the extremist group to smuggle oil through Syria, according to a report in The NY Times.
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More than 20 bombs were dropped by French aircraft in the attack, an allied official said.
