Iraqi warplanes destroy Islamic State command center in Syria
Iraqi F-16 fighter jets. File photo.
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi F-16 jet fighters carried out on Thursday an airstrike on a position of the Islamic State militant group in Hajin city in neighboring Syria, the Iraqi Security Media Council said.
According to the center, “the air strike achieved all its goals as it completely destroyed an Islamic State command center and killed all the militants inside it.”
“The air raid was ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi based on accurate intelligence reports to eliminate the Islamic State threat coming from Syria,” Iraqi website Baghdad Today quoted the center as saying in a statement.
The Iraqi air force is regularly carrying out air strikes against Islamic State in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.