US forces launch fresh airstrikes against Islamic militants

The US launched a series of airstrikes against Islamic militants in western Iraq over the weekend to protect vital dams, according to the Pentagon, Time Magazine reported.

The report said the latest airstrikes targeted fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) operating near western Iraq's Haditha Dam and Mosul Dam.

''At the request of the Government of Iraq, the US military today conducted coordinated airstrikes against (ISIS) terrorists in the vicinity of the Haditha Dam in Anbar province,'' Pentagon press secretary rear admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

''We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam, which remains under control of Iraqi Security Forces, with support from Sunni tribes.''

According to National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden, the Haditha strikes were carried out ''at the direction of the President and in coordination with the government of Iraq.''

In a separate statement, the Pentagon said ''additionally, an attack aircraft conducted one airstrike against ISIL near Mosul Dam on Saturday in support of Iraqi security forces protecting Mosul Dam.''

While the US had  carried out airstrikes  to protect the Mosul Dam earlier in August as well (See: Iraqi and Kurdish troops push for Tikrit after Mosul dam victory over Islamic State), the operations near the Haditha Dam were, however, new.

According to the leader of a pro-Iraqi government paramilitary force in western Iraq, the air strikes wiped out an ISIS patrol trying to attack the dam – Iraq's second biggest hydroelectric facility, The Guardian reported.

''They (the air strikes) were very accurate. There was no collateral damage ... If Islamic State had gained control of the dam, many areas of Iraq would have been seriously threatened, even (the capital) Baghdad,'' Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha told Reuters.

The aerial strike forced ISIS fighters away from the dam a police intelligence officer in the vast western province of Anbar, hit by Islamist insurgency.

According to a statement issued by the US military, the strikes destroyed four Isis Humvees, four armed vehicles, two of which were carrying antiaircraft artillery, a fighting position, one command post and a defensive fighting position.

The Pentagon added that all aircraft had left the strike areas safely.