You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Iraq
Air strike kills ISIS army commander and deputy of al-Baghdadi
2014-12-20
More detail on yesterday's article:
[IraqiNews.com] A senior US military official announced that a US raid killed Haji Mutazz, an ISIS deputy of the so-called Caliph His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
, and Abdul Baset, an ISIS army commander in Iraq.

This comes at a time when US General James Terry, the head of the campaign led by US the so-called the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), announced earlier on Thursday that the international coalition launched 1361 raids against ISIS sites since the start of operations in August.

He added that ?the international alliance stopped the advance of ISIS fighters as they face difficulty in movement and communication as a result of the air campaign. I think we have made significant progress in stopping their progress.?

He explained, ?[the Arclight airstrike campaign] has been estimated to stop ISIS? advance. They are trying at the moment to maintain the areas they control. I think they are facing problems in communications and supplies.?

He also stressed that the current pace of the bombing is suitable, even if the Iraqi leaders are demanding to intensify air strikes and heavy weapons, adding that ?The basis is to build something inside the Iraqi army, giving it an offensive spirit, and we will continue the strikes.?

The US military announced on Wednesday that coalition aircraft launched 61 raids in Iraq since Monday, mostly in the north of the country, what constitutes a steady increase for the rate of the raids carried out against the organization in the past few weeks.
Another Iraqi News article adds:
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey said, that the air strikes which targeted senior leaders in the group were designed to curb the group’s ability to conduct its own attacks, supply and finance its fighters.

The Pentagon said, that Abd al Basit, the head of Islamic State’s military operations in Iraq, and Haji Mutazz, a key aide to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the group, were killed in U.S. air attacks, which occurred between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9. Another air strike killed Radwan Talib, a midlevel commander who was assigned as ‘wali,’ or governor, in Mosul.

Dempsey said, “It is disruptive to their planning and command and control,” adding, “These are high-value targets, senior leadership."
Posted by:trailing wife

00:00