US-led Coalition conducts 13 new airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The U.S.-led coalition aimed a new series of airstrikes at Islamic State group targets Sunday, with 13 strikes in Iraq and three in Syria, Reutersreported, citing a Defense Department statements. The latest wave of airstrikes comes on the heels of an announcement by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that as many as1,300 moreU.S. troops are headed to Iraq next month to train Iraqi forces in the Anbar area and north of Baghdad.

“Their mission will be to train, advise and assist Iraqi security forces,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters at a briefing this week. “This deployment is part of the additional 1,500 troops that the president authorized in November.”

Bomber, fighter and other aircraft were deployed Sunday in four areas near Sinjar in northern Iraq, where the militant group formerly known as either ISIL or ISIS has been active for months. The coalition attacks destroyed Islamic State buildings, tactical units and vehicles. Other Iraqi cities with related targets included Tal Afar, Ramadi, Mosul and Baiji, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials said in astatement.

According to the statement, the “destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group’s ability to project terror and conduct operations.”

Coalition partners in the airstrikes in Iraq encompass Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands and the U.K., while coalition partners in the airstrikes in Syria include Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Pentagon said.