IRBIL, Iraq – Iraqi warplanes have conducted airstrikes on Islamic State targets inside neighboring Syria for the first time, Iraq’s prime minister said Friday, vowing to chase down the militants “everywhere” as Iraqi forces opened new fronts in the city of Mosul.
The strikes in Bukamal inside Syria – and Hussaiba on the Iraqi side of the border – were carried out by U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter jets in response to bombing attacks in the capital Baghdad, said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
It comes as Iraqi forces reach the final stages of their operation seeking to oust the militants from the northern city of Mosul, the largest remaining stronghold of the group in Iraq. Police forces finished clearing the city’s airport southwest of Mosul on Friday before storming a neighborhood on the western side of the city.
The eastern side of Mosul has already been recaptured in the gruelling large-scale offensive for the city which was launched in October. But while it loses ground, Islamic State has continued to carry out bombing attacks on civilian targets elsewhere in Iraq.
Iraqi officials said they had information that recent attacks in Baghdad had been organized from inside Syria.
“We are determined to follow the terrorism that is trying to kill our sons and our citizens everywhere,” Abadi said.
Iraq decided to carry out the strikes itself, rather than relying on the U.S.-led coalition, because it was acting off Iraqi intelligence and “it’s up to us to take revenge,” said Lt. Gen. Anwar Hana, commander of Iraq’s air force. The strikes were successful, he said.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command released video of the missiles hitting buildings. It did not specify whether the airstrikes were carried out in coordination with the Syrian government, but Iraq has said that it is engaged in security and intelligence sharing operations with Syria, Russia and Iran.
While the U.S.-led coalition has carried out a large-scale bombing campaign in Iraq for more than two and a half years, Iraq has also been building its air power capabilities. It received its first long-delayed batch of F-16 fighter jets in 2015, and Iraq jets have carried out airstrikes in support of their forces in Mosul.
Iraqi forces retook Ghizlani military camp on the outskirts of the western side of the city on Friday, before storming Mamon neighborhood, Joint Operations Command said. They faced resistance from Islamic State car bombs and weaponized drones that dropped grenades on the advancing forces.
Iraqi commanders say it is unclear how much force Islamic State has kept in reserve to protect the western side of the city, which contains the majority of Mosul’s government buildings and is more densely populated than the east. The narrow streets of the old city, located on the western side, also present a challenge, they say.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Mustafa Salim, Loveday Morris
