Iraq says its strikes in Syria killed 36 IS militants

BAGHDAD (AP) — A spokesman for Iraq's military says 36 Islamic State militants have been killed in Thursday's airstrikes by Iraq's air force in Syria.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool says that the airstrikes hit a location where IS militants were meeting, among other targets. Rasool added that six IS leaders were among the dead.

Hours after launching the airstrikes, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said Iraqi fighter jets had hit IS positions in an area along the border, saying they posed a threat to Iraq.

Syrian and Iraqi forces have driven IS from nearly all the territory it once held, but the extremists have maintained a presence in the remote desert areas along the border. Iraq has previously carried out airstrikes against the group in Syria. </s> Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – As many as 36 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Sunday after Iraqi warplanes targeted their terrorist hotbed located in Syria, a spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Council was quoted as saying.

Alghdad Press quoted Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool as saying in a statement that Iraqi Air Forces launched a series of airstrikes on Syrian territories using F-16 jets to eliminate Islamic State terrorists, who were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Iraq.

According to the statement, the air raids left 36 IS militants dead, including six senior leaders who were gathering at one of their hotbeds inside Syria.

The Islamic State group appeared on the international scene in 2014 when it seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, declaring the establishment of an Islamic “caliphate” from Mosul city.

Later on, the group has become notorious for its brutality, including mass killings, abductions and beheadings, prompting the U.S. to lead an international coalition to destroy it.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq last December, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country. </s> Syrian state media and a war monitoring group say airstrikes in Islamic State-held territory in north-eastern Syria have killed at least 23 people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear if US-led coalition or Iraqi warplanes carried out the attack in the Hassakeh province.

The Observatory said those killed included 10 children, six women and seven elderly people.

The strikes took place in an area where US-backed and Kurdish-led forces are fighting to drive IS from some of the last pockets of territory it controls.

The state-run Syrian News Agency said 25 civilians were killed in the airstrikes south of Shadadi, blaming the US-led coalition. </s> Air strikes killed at least 23 civilians including 10 children in a village held by the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

“We don’t know for the moment if the US-led international coalition or Iraqi forces carried out the strike” on the village of Al-Qasr in Hasakeh province, the Observatory said.

The Britain-based monitor relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.

The US-led coalition, which is backing a Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting IS near Syria’s eastern border with Iraq, denied it carried out the strikes.

“There are no strikes in that area reflected in the… strike logs as of today,” the coalition said in a written response to AFP.

Iraq has also previously carried out strikes against IS jihadists in Syria, including a raid last month in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

The jihadists have lost much of the territory they once controlled in Syria and Iraq since declaring a cross-border caliphate there in 2014.

In Syria, they have faced two separate offensives — one by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance and a second by Russia-backed regime fighters.

In February, US-led coalition air raids killed 25 civilians including seven children in the village of Shaafah in Deir Ezzor province and surrounding areas, according to the Observatory.

The coalition says it takes every precaution to avoid civilian casualties.

Last week, it acknowledged the deaths of 28 civilians in Iraq and Syria in 2017.

That increased its overall death toll of non-fighters killed in coalition strikes since 2014 in both countries to at least 883.

Monitoring group Airwars says the true toll of the bombing campaign is much higher, estimating that at least 6,259 civilians have been killed. </s> Baku. 22 November. REPORT.AZ/ U.S.-led coalition forces launched airstrikes on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The airstrikes killed 31 ISIL militants in the Mosul and Saladin provinces, according to Iraqi officials.

At least seven ISIL militants were killed in Iraq’s Mosul province after the coalition’s airstrikes, Mosul police chief Major Gen, Khalid al-Hamdani told Anadolu Agency.

According to Mosul State hospital sources, nine other ISIL militants were also killed in the airstrikes.

In the Sinjar district, another 15 ISIL militants were killed, and an ISIL base was bombed, according to local sources in the district.

Meanwhile U.S. Central Command released a statement reporting that U.S.-led coalition forces launched 30 airstrikes on ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq in the last three days.

The airstrikes destroyed buildings, storage spaces, vehicles, control zones, armed vehicles and a police station in ISIL-held territory in Syria and Iraq, the statement said.

The U.S. is leading an international coalition, which includes France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

Since mid-June, fighting in Iraq has pitted the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces against ISIL militants, who are currently in control of large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

According to the U.N., an estimated 1.8 million citizens have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Iraq this year. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says 64 civilians were killed and eight were injured in 24 coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria over the past year, based on newly completed investigations.

U.S. Central Command says the latest totals bring the number of civilians killed in airstrikes in the fight against the Islamic State group to 119, with another 37 injured.

Col. John Thomas, Central Command spokesman, says the investigations concluded that the proper military process was followed in each incident and precautions are always taken to try to avoid any civilian deaths.

The cases announced Wednesday include strikes from last November through September. They don’t include a July airstrike that may have killed 56 civilians near Manbij, Syria, and a September attack that may have killed dozens of Syrian government forces. </s> Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the blasts that took place, north of Tikrit, which left many people killed and injured.

The media-arm of IS, Amaq news agency, said 17 personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) were killed, while 30 others were wounded in an ambush at Asdeira village in Shirqat town.

On Thursday, Ali Dawdah, mayor of Shirqat, said in a statement, “ten people were killed, while 14 others were wounded as explosives went off while digging tombs, on Wednesday night. The bombs were planted in a grave in Asdeira village in western Shirqat, north of Salahuddin.”

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

A total of 104 Iraqi civilians and policemen were killed, while 177 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in March, according to casualty figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. </s> Sixty-four civilians were killed and eight were injured in 24 U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria over the past year, the U.S. military said Wednesday, based on newly completed investigations.

The latest totals bring the number of civilians killed in airstrikes in the fight against the Islamic State group to 119, with another 37 injured, according to U.S. Central Command.

Col. John Thomas, Central Command spokesman, said the investigations concluded that the proper military process was followed in each incident and precautions are always taken to try to avoid any civilian deaths.

Independent monitoring groups and activists, however, have repeatedly said that coalition and other airstrikes have killed hundreds of civilians.

The cases announced Wednesday include strikes from last November through September. And they range from one or two civilians killed to a March strike near Mosul, Iraq, that killed 10 civilians.

The latest report, however, doesn't include two air attacks in Syria in recent months that may have each killed dozens. According to residents and international aid groups, an airstrike in July near Manbij, Syria, may have killed at least 56 civilians and wounded many more.

And a U.S. brigadier general has been appointed to lead an investigation in a September airstrike near Deir el-Zour, Syria, that may have unintentionally killed dozens of Syrian government forces.

The U.S. has said that it monitored the target for two days and deemed it valid before launching the strike. But it was halted when Russian officials called the coalition to say the attack was hitting personnel and vehicles that were part of the Syrian military.

There have been lingering questions about reports that the troops or people on the ground were not wearing uniforms and that they were armed, leading to confusion about who they might be. Other theories suggest they may have been conscripted troops or prisoners of some sort, but there have been no solid findings yet on those reports.

As of Wednesday, U.S. Central Command has received 257 allegations of airstrikes causing possible civilian casualties, and has concluded that 76 of the reports were valid and required further investigation. Of those 76, four were duplicates.

To date, 65 of the investigations have been completed, and about half of them have been publicly disclosed. Seven allegations remain open. </s> The Iraqi prime minister said he had directed the military to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) targets in Syrian territory. The strikes come in response to recent bombings in Baghdad, he added.

"We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens wherever it is found, so we gave orders to the air force command to strike Islamic State positions in Hosaiba and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territory as they were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad," Haider al-Abbadi said in a statement.

"The heroes of the sky executed the operation and responded to the terrorists with amazing success."

IS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack that took place on February 16 in southern Baghdad, when a car bomb blast ripped through the area, killing at least 45 and injuring dozens.

Albu Kamal was targeted by the US-led coalition earlier this week. On Thursday, three strikes engaged an IS unit and also destroyed four oil refinement stills and a vehicle.

Later in the day, an Iraqi military commander has confirmed the airstrikes "were successful," adding that they involved F-16 fighter jets, AP reported.

A seniour security official told Reuters "the strikes targeted Islamic State's headquarters used for making car bombs in Albu Kamal... after Iraqi intelligence received tips from their sources inside Syria."

READ MORE: Suicide blast kills at least 60 near Al-Bab, Syria – reports

Meanwhile, the Iraqi airstrikes were conducted "in complete coordination" with the Syrian government, a source close to Syria's foreign ministry told the news agency. The source chose not to elaborate on the issue.

Later, another foreign ministry source confirmed coordination of the airstrikes to the Syrian government's newspaper Al Watan.

Later in the day, Lebanese broadcaster Al-Mayadeen reported that the Iraqi airstrikes demonstrated “high-level cooperation between two countries' intelligence agencies.” The report said the Friday air raids were ordered after a convoy carrying IS commanders was spotted in the area, adding that coordinated strikes are very likely to happen in the future.

Bassam Abu Abdallah, professor of political studies in Damascus University, told RT that closer coordination between Iraq and Syria in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) would be essential for defeating the jihadist group in the long run.

“If we do not have this kind of coordination, I think, that after Mosul the ISIS fighters will come to Syria and we see that the Iraqi forces try to close the borders between Syria and Iraq.”

Abdallah added that similarly motivated cooperation between the United States and Russia is needed to defeat IS, but so far it was “not clear what is the plan in the minds of the Trump administration.”
Iraq claims airstrikes on Thursday in Syria killed 36 Islamic State militants.