Helicopters have been used by the Iraqi Air Force during the Anbar campaign (2013–14) and the subsequent Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014). According to Erin Evers of Human Rights Watch, "What's happening now in Iraq definitely started in Syria. If I were al-Maliki, and seeing Assad next door using the same tactics without a slap on the wrist and gaining ground as a result, it stands to reason he would say, 'Why the hell not?'".