MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The international coalition has carried out six powerful airstrikes in Mosul, Iraq, in the past 24 hours and 27 since the beginning of its operation, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.
"We are carefully monitoring the situation not only in Syria, but also in northern Iraq where there is an operation in the region of the city of Mosul. In the past 24 hours, we registered eight sorties of the coalition’s aviation with carrying out of six powerful bomb strikes," Konashenkov said.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of the military operation to retake Mosul from Daesh militants. According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation, backed by airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition.