U.S. military delivers supplies to Iraqi forces

TAMPA – INTERNATIONAL – U.S. and Saudi Arabian military forces conducted eight airstrikes on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant targets in Syria yesterday and today, U.S. Central Command officials reported.

Four airstrikes southwest of Kobani struck a large ISIL unit and a small ISIL unit, damaged an ISIL staging location and destroyed an ISIL heavy-machine-gun firing position. Three airstrikes northeast of Kobani struck a small ISIL unit, damaged two ISIL buildings and destroyed an ISIL staging location and three ISIL buildings. An airstrike northwest of Raqqah struck an ISIL garrison, officials said.

US Delivers Supplies to Iraq

As the violence on the ground intensifies, the United States military delivered crucial supplies to Iraqi forces based near the strategic oil refinery of Baiji, on Friday and Saturday. According to a statement released from U.S. Central Command, the U.S. air force conducted several airdrops of supplies, including food, water and ammunition, to Iraqi forces at the request of the Iraqi government.

Iraqi forces have been fighting to keep control of Baiji, the largest oil refinery in Iraqi, near the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Mosul. Suspected IS bombers assassinated an Iraqi provincial police chief and killed 28 people in an attack on a Kurdish security headquarters on Sunday, a second straight day of mass attacks that killed scores. The two attacks, in the north of the country and the west, showed the jihadist group’s ability to inflict damage on both the forces of the autonomous Kurdish region.

To conduct these strikes, U.S. forces used bomber and fighter aircraft deployed to the Centcom area of operations, and Saudi Arabian forces used fighter aircraft, Centcom officials said.

All aircraft exited the strike areas safely, officials added.

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