The heavy bombardment took place Monday “in the austere terrain of Wadi Ashai near Kirkuk,” and was carried out by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), according to a Friday release issued by Operation Inherent Resolve - the US-led mission to combat Daesh militants in Iraq and Syria.
American coalition advisors did not participate in the ground attack; however, the release did note that US forces participated in the Monday events by providing close air support, which also included surveillance aircraft.
“Iraqi Army Aviation and Coalition aircraft did gun runs and dropped bombs on [Daesh] weapons and munitions were also destroyed during the strikes,” reads the release. In addition to drones and the US Air Force’s F-15s, Iraqi AC-208 Combat Caravan and twin-turboprop King Air 350 aircraft participated in the operation.
It is unclear how many munitions were dropped during the April operation, as the mission does not release such information publicly.
The coordinated airstrikes led to the deaths of 23 Daesh militants. It’s uncertain if any civilians were harmed as a result of the attack.
Col. Matt Brown, the deputy commander for the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), said in a statement accompanying the release that the “ISF’s ability to target and punish Daesh in this isolated territory confirms that these Daesh criminals have no safe haven.”
The most recent strike summary release from CJTF-OIR indicates that for the month of February, the mission carried out a total of 18 strikes, of which 10 occurred in Iraq, and the remaining eight were conducted in Syria. For the month of January, a total of eight strikes were reported by coalition forces.