Iraq launches air strike against ISIL in Syria

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Iraq's military said it launched an air strike on an ISIL target inside neighboring Syria on Thursday.

F-16 fighter jets destroyed a building where members of the ultra-hardline Sunni group's leadership were operating, the military said in a statement.

ISIL, which once occupied a third of Iraq's territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria.

"Iraqi F-16 jets bombed this morning on Thursday a so-called command and control center containing leaders and fighters belonging to the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist gang in the Hajin inside Syrian territory," the statement said.

July 8, 2017: Iraqi Federal police celebrate in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, after liberating the city from ISIL. /Reuters Photo

The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes against ISIL in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the US-led coalition fighting ISIL.

Iraq has good relations with Iran and Russia, Assad's main allies in the Syrian conflicts, while also enjoying strong support from the US-led coalition.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over ISIL in December but it still operates from pockets along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.

ISIL has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-sufficient caliphate that straddles Iraq and Syria.

(Top photo: An image grab taken from a video released by the Iraqi Security Media Center on May 25, 2018, shows an air strike by the Iraqi air force targeting a huge building in the Syrian area of Hajin, near the border with Iraq. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters