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THE US-LED COALITION conducted a series of airstrikes targeting a gathering of Islamic State leaders near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a senior US defense official has said.
The airstrikes on Friday night destroyed a convoy consisting of ten Islamic state armed trucks, said the defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe military operations.
He confirmed that coalition aircraft conducted a series of airstrikes “against what was assessed to be a gathering of ISIL leaders near Mosul,” using another acronym for the Islamic State group.
“We cannot confirm if ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among those present,” he said.
“We have no further information to provide regarding these strikes.”
According to the BBC, ISIS supporters have since denied that their commander was there.
Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?
The Islamic State group has proclaimed al-Baghdadi as caliph, or supreme leader, of the vast areas of territory in Iraq and Syria under its control and demanded that all Muslims pledge allegiance to him.
Al-Baghdadi, an ambitious Iraqi militant believed to be in his early 40s, has a $10 million US bounty on his head.
Since taking the reins of the group in 2010, he has transformed it from a local branch of al-Qaida into an independent transnational military force, positioning himself as perhaps the pre-eminent figure in the global jihadi community.
Bombings
Despite the airstrikes by the US-led coalition, Sunni militants have continued to carrying out deadly bombings targeting Iraqi security forces and civilians.
A suicide truck bomber struck the convoy of a top Iraqi police officer killing eight people, including the ranking official, authorities said yesterday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of militants from the Islamic State group.
The late Friday attack happened when the suicide attacker drove his bomb-laden truck into the convoy of police Lt. Gen. Faisal Malik al-Zamel, who was inspecting forces in the town of Beiji north of Baghdad, police said. The blast killed al-Zamel and seven other police officers, while wounding 15 people, hospital officials and police officers said.
Meanwhile yesterday, a series of bombings in and around the capital Baghdad killed at least 43 people, with the deadliest blast hitting the city’s sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City, where a car bomb tore through a commercial area, killing 11 people and wounding 21.
There has been an uptick in the number of bombings blamed on Sunni militants in the capital and mostly targeting Shiites, feeding sectarian tensions in the city, as the security forces of the Shiite-led government battle the Sunni militants of the Islamic State group to the west and north of the capital.
More recently, the attacks targeted Shiite pilgrims marking Ashoura, the highlight of the sect’s religious calendar.
Airstrikes
A US-led coalition has been launching airstrikes on Islamic State militants and facilities in Iraq and Syria for months, as part of an effort to give Iraqi forces the time and space to mount a more effective offensive. The Islamic State had gained ground across northern and western Iraq in a lightning advance in June and July, causing several of Iraq’s rmy and police divisions to fall into disarray.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 more American troops to bolster Iraqi forces, including into Anbar province, where fighting with Islamic State militants has been fierce.
The plan could boost the total number of American troops in Iraq to 3,100. There now are about 1,400 U.S. troops in Iraq, out of the 1,600 previously authorized.
Additional reporting, Daragh Brophy.
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Yeah like the Americans destroyed their stockpile, does anyone really belive that?
@Jimmyjoe Wallace:
They haven’t, at least not all of it. The US still has over 500 tonnes of chemical weapons that are scheduled to be destroyed in the coming years.
The US and Russia came to an agreement regarding the destruction of Cold War era chemical weapons and both countries have destroyed over 90% of their stockpiles. If either country wasn’t fulfilling it’s promises regarding the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles we’d know about it.
I love the hypocrisy of some people
Not a mention of the Russians who had and may still have the biggest chemical and biological stockpile in history
It’s only bad when the US does it, for some people
@Jason Culligan – How would we know either party wasn’t fulfilling it’s it’s promises RE: destruction of chemical weapons?? Who oversee’s and ensures it has been carried out on both sides??
Well, this advertising feature has certainly worked on me! Where can I buy this stuff?
I can’t believe a communist leader would do such a thing. surely communist good capitalist bad. as the aaa/pbp
@Patrick Gough: Yes Patrick. This horrific inhuman chemical was created by communists as the article clearly states :P
@Eoghan Holland:
A quick google search shows that the USSR also produced weaponised VX. They may not have invented it, but they did make it.
@Jason Culligan: Fair point Jason. Not going to argue with you on it :) – It was just a little irresistible as Patrick here somehow has transformed his dislike of a political party into a moot point and i just thought it would be fun to counter it. I wouldn’t advocate north korean policies or assign myself to any political force, just thought i’d see how the straw man faired with a wee flame…
Actually look closely at AAAPBP economic policies it mentions ‘direct allocation’ of goods by the state as a future goal
Something the NKs are meant to have (hasn’t worked) and their lit is filled with references to a planned economy
Would that be the same family of organophosphate That was used in sheep dip and plug in air fresheners not so long ago
@Peter Hargan: It was Kim’s farts in a cloth?
15 years of the war with terrorism, but not with Kim. No oil in NK.
Guinness farts are toxic too.
You’d know…cooney…
So herewith evidence that NoKo has WMD. Will the imminent US invasion be televised?
’10 times more powerful as…’ not ’10 times as powerful as’.
If the two girls accused had the nerve gas on their hands and rubbed it in his face, how are they still alive
One of them was vomiting and I’ll after the attack so it is suspected she may have been in touch with a tiny amount. It appears from the CCTV footage that they rubbed his face with cloths. If only one side of the cloth was contaminated it would have lessened the risk to them.
Because the dose makes the poison
There’s cyanide in apples but not in a high enough dose to kill you
If you took 4 solphadene tablets at once now you’d not die but if we’re taking 100 at once you’d get toxic levels of paracetamol for some people.
Just like radiation (we encounter it every day) it’s a matter of how much
China is suspected of supplying deadly toxic to North Korea….
@Thosj Carroll: For coal???
@Thosj Carroll: And the US supplied nukes to Israel……
Weapons of mass destruction! Means the Americans have a reason to go in now just like Iraq
Jeez! Arnt you all SO INFORMED!!!!
His wee mad brother, might be something to cause heart attacks. GMO’s like a virus that will only kill certain people with certain genetic markers, what a thought?
have your say