Breaking news
US Air Forces conduct additional airstrikes against Islamic States insurgents near Mosul.
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Defence & Security News - United States |
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| Monday, August 18, 2014 06:17 PM | |||
| US Air Forces conduct additional airstrikes against Islamic States insurgents near Mosul | |||
US
military on sunday August 17 conducted airstrikes against Islamic State
(IS) insurgents, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL, near the Iraqi’s
largest dam, located near the northern city of Mosul, according to United
States Central Command website. |
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 F/A-18C Hornet take offs the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf |
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The
Central Command said a mix of fighter, bomber, attack and remotely piloted
aircraft were used to conduct 14 airstrikes aimed at supporting humanitarian
efforts, protecting critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities,
as well as backing up Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting militants from
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
ISIL's 10 armed vehicles, seven Humvees, two armored personnel carriers and one checkpoint were damaged or destroyed in the attacks, the Central Command said in a statement, noting nine strikes were carried out on Saturday. President Barack Obama on Sunday notified U.S. Congress that he authorized the targeted strikes near Mosul Dam on Thursday to support Iraqi forces in their effort to recapture the dam, Iraq's largest. "The failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, endanger U.S. personnel and facilities, including the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace, " he said in a letter to congressional leaders. The US military has earlier conducted nine airstrikes against IS insurgents near the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Erbil. The strikes destroyed or damaged four armored personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armored vehicle, according to US Central Command. The Sunni group Islamic State, previously fighting in Syria, seized large parts of Iraq in early June, ratcheting up tensions in the region. In late June, the Islamic State announced the establishment of a caliphate on the territories it had captured in Iraq and Syria. |
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