A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft pilot receives fuel from a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft, assigned to the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, over Southwest Asia on Feb. 26, 2021. USAF photo by Master Sgt. Joey Swafford.
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Coalition Aircraft, Iraqi Forces Continue Large Offensive Targeting ISIS
March 24, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine
Extensive coalition and Iraqi operations targeting the Islamic State group in northern Iraq continued, with aircraft now conducting at least 312 airstrikes on ISIS remnants in the remote mountainous region.
U.S.-led coalition aircraft and Iraqi forces conducted the airstrikes as part of Operation Ready Lion in the Makhmour Mountains, south of Erbil and Mosul. The strikes hit 120 hideouts, and killed 27 terrorists, said Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
The @iraqicts in coord w/the ISF & Peshmerga conducted Ops Ready Lion in Makhmour MTN. @CJTFOIR jets, IQAF & Army AVN supported the GND ops with 312 airstrikes. 120 hideouts & PSN were destroyed & 27 terrorists were killed. Together, we are a lethal combination to #DefeatDaesh https://t.co/Iebd1Mvy4r pic.twitter.com/IYyyv6f0mK
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) March 24, 2021
Iraqi Ministry of Defense spokesman Yehia Rasool said Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service snipers watched ISIS caves, with the airstrikes targeting the cave system and forcing the fighters to flee, according to a translated series of posts on Twitter.
OIR announced the offensive earlier this week, disclosing that U.S.-led coalition aircraft had conducted 133 airstrikes over 10 days in the region.
The pace of strikes so far this month appears to be higher than any other period since March 2019, when ISIS made its last stand in Syria before moving underground to become an insurgency, according to statistics from Air Forces Central Command.
The U.S. estimates that between 8,000 and 16,000 ISIS fighters remain in both Iraq and Syria, according to a February Defense Department Inspector General report.
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