US bombs Islamic State fighters in north Iraq

Forum 9 years ago

US bombs Islamic State fighters in north Iraq

US jets and drones have attacked fighters loyal to the Islamic State group positioned around the Mosul dam in northern Iraq, after US President Barack Obama vowed to end the “cancer” of the group.

The US said its aircraft carried out six raids on Thursday on positions around the dam, which is now under the control of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, following fierce battles earlier this week to dislodge Islamic State fighters.

The attacks destroyed or damaged four vehicles and “multiple” homemade bomb emplacements, a spokesman for the US central command said, taking to 90 the number of raids conducted by the US in Iraq since August 8.

The strikes come days after the self-declared jihadist group posted a video on the Internet of the beheading of James Foley, a US journalist captured in Syria in 2012, which it said was revenge for US raids on its territory.

The group, which controls large areas of northern Syria and northern and western Iraq, said it would attack US interests if it was further targeted by the US military, and threatened the life of another American citizen it held hostage.