International coalition raids on Tikrit were Abadi’s request, says Washington
Archival photo.
(IraqiNews.com) The US State Department stated Thursday, that the international coalition raids on Tikrit on Wednesday were at Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s request, noting that the United States and the Iraqi government will work together to achieve the common goal of defeating ISIS and training national and professional security forces to be able to protect the Iraqi nation.
The US State spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “At the request of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the US-led international coalition launched airstrikes on the city of Tikrit and its surroundings to support ground operations of the Iraqi security forces.”
Jen added that the strikes were designed to destroy ISIS strongholds precisely to protect innocent Iraqis by reducing the damage to infrastructure and enable the Iraqi forces under the command of the Iraqi leadership to continue offensive operations against ISIS in the vicinity of Tikrit.
Psaki confirmed that all the air raids were in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Iraqi security forces through the joint operations center in Baghdad.
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