WASHINGTON, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - The US Air Force, backed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Belgium, have continued airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) targets in Iraq and Syria, carrying out nine attacks over the past 48 hours, the US Central Command said in a press release.
“US and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL [IS] terrorists in Syria Monday and today, using attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes. Separately, US military forces used attack and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct four airstrikes against ISIL [IS] in Iraq,” the statement released Tuesday read.
In Syria, two airstrikes west of the city of Hasakah struck multiple buildings occupied by the jihadists, including an air observation station. Staging areas and an improvised explosive device production facility were destroyed in an area northeast of Dayr-az-Zawr.
South of the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab (also known as Kobani), bordering with Turkey, an airstrike destroyed four IS armed vehicles, one of them carrying anti-aircraft artillery, and damaged one IS tank.
In Iraq, military aircraft targeted four locations, including an IS armed vehicle, which was firing on Kurdish Pehmerga forces south of the Iraqi city of Sinjar. Additional strikes against the insurgents north of Sinjar resulted in the destruction of an IS vehicle.
The United States launched airstrikes against IS militants on the Iraqi territory back in August and extended them to Syria the following month. Washington has resorted to military option following the rapid advance of the IS group, which had earlier proclaimed a caliphate over controlled parts of Iraq and Syria.
