Iraqi helicopters hit convoy in Syria
Aljazeera.com-
Iraqi army helicopters
has attacked a self-declared jihadist convoy inside eastern Syria as it
tried to approach the border, killing at least eight ...
Ministry: Iraqi Helicopters Attack Terrorist Convoy in Syria Killing 8 ...
Fars News Agency-
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi army helicopters attacked a terrorist convoy inside Eastern Syria on Sunday as it tried to approach the border, killing eight ...
Iraqi helicopters hit convoy in Syria |
Eight people killed in convoy from Syria which Baghdad says was aiming to supply Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Last updated: 27 Apr 2014 14:07
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Iraqi army helicopters has attacked a self-declared
jihadist convoy inside eastern Syria as it tried to approach the border,
killing at least eight people, an interior ministry spokesman said. Sunday’s raid was the It was the first time Iraq's military has said it carried out an attack in Syria. "The army struck eight tanker trucks in Wadi Suwab inside Syrian territory as they were trying to enter Iraqi territory to provide the (jihadist) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with fuel," Brigadier General Saad Maan said. "Our responsibility now is to protect our border and to protect the border from the other side, because there is no protection from the other side," Maan said. He said there was no coordination with the Syrian regime over the strike. ISIL emerged in Iraq in the wake of the US-led invasion in 2003, and later appeared in Syria during the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The brutal methods its fighters used in Syrian areas under their control turned other opposition groups against them, and they were pushed back by other rebel groups into their stronghold in northeastern Syria, where they still hold territory. The vehicles were travelling to the western Iraqi border province of Anbar, where ISIL has been battling Iraqi security forces and controls the city of Fallujah. The group has also launched bombings in the capital Baghdad, including an attack on a Shia political rally on Friday that killed 36 people. end quote from: Iraqi helicopters hit convoy in SyriaU.S. advisers train Iraqi special forces to counter spreading Sunni offensiveSpecial to WorldTribune.comWASHINGTON — The United States has been training Iraqi special operations forces to quell the Sunni revolt. Officials said U.S. advisers were training and mentoring Iraqi SOF units in the war in Anbar. The officials said the advisers were training the Iraqis in urban warfare, counter-insurgency techniques, bomb detection and coordinated helicopter assaults. “Without significant improvement in combat capabilities, this war could go on indefinitely,” an official said. On April 1, the Iraq Army conducted an attack helicopter operation that killed three suspected fighters of Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant south of Falluja. Iraqi sources said several U.S. helicopters participated in the assault. Officials said the United States has been supplying combat platforms for the Iraq SOF missions. They cited the Bell-407 and AH-64 helicopters, Humvee ground vehicles and M1A1 main battle tanks. The SOF units, which face some 1,000 ISIL fighters around Falluja, have been reinforced by pro-government tribal militias, called the Military Council For Tribal Revolutionaries. Officials said the units were assigned the lead in the Anbar war, which began in January 2014. The U.S. effort was meant to quell the Sunni revolt in most of Anbar by the time Iraq holds national elections on April 30. The administration of President Barack Obama has deemed the elections an opportunity for Sunnis to resolve their grievances against the Shi’ite-dominated central government in Baghdad. “Right now, the most realistic scenario was that a portion of the [Anbar] province would participate in elections,” the official said. |
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