US leads 22 more air strikes against Islamic State: task force

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

AFP Photo

The U.S.-led coalition conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria on Dec. 22 and 10 strikes Iraq, the U.S. military said in a statement.
   
In Iraq, the strikes hit near the strategic northern Iraqi town of Sinjar as well as near Asad, Tal Afar, Ramdi, Mosul and Falluja, the Combined Joint Task Force said. They destroyed six units of Islamic State fighters as well as a weapons factory, numerous buildings and several vehicles, it said.
   
"These engagements were in support of the 7th Iraqi Army, local police and tribal fighters engaged in fighting with ISIL forces in the vicinity of Dulab," the statement said.
   
On Sunday, Kurdish and Yazidi fighters battled to take the Sinjar back from ISIL after breaking a months-long siege of the mountain above it. Seizing the town would restore the majority of territory Iraq's Kurds lost in Islamic State's surprise offensive in August.
   
In Syria, the dozen strikes centered around the border town of Kobani as well as Aleppo, Hasaka and Raqqa, destroying various fighting positions, vehicles and a group of fighters, the statement said.