WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — During the conversation, Biden and Al-Abadi also discussed the ongoing military campaign against ISIL in Anbar Province, and the vice president reaffirmed US support in the fight against the terrorist group.
“Both leaders [Obama and Al-Abadi] welcomed the delivery of new US F-16 fighter aircraft to Iraq as a major milestone in the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq,” the release read on Tuesday.
Biden also offered condolences for Friday’s deadly terrorist attack near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
The ISIL has claimed responsibility for the deadly car bombing in Diyala province. The radical Sunni group — infamous for multiple atrocities, mass killings and destructions of cultural artifacts — operates on territories it has occupied across Iraq and Syria.
The F-16 is one of the oldest and regularly used combat aircraft in the US Air Force. It became operational in 1978 and is still flown by many air forces around the world, including Israel, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt.
