Iraqi planes strike IS bases, 44 fighters in Syria: Military

The Iraqi military announced on Tuesday that its warplanes had launched a series of raids on Islamic State (IS) targets within Syrian territory, destroying two bases where a total of 44 members of the jihadi group were present.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi military announced on Tuesday that its warplanes had launched a series of raids on Islamic State (IS) targets within Syrian territory, destroying two bases where a total of 44 members of the jihadi group were present.

The attacks took place in an enclave where IS members are still active and where US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), aided by the international anti-IS coalition and occasional Iraqi air support, are confronting them.

“F16 Iraqi aircraft carried out air strikes inside Syrian territory,” the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in Tuesday's statement, adding that planes had “targeted the al-Sousa area.”

Sousa is a geographical region located along the Iraqi border outside Hajin, the final territory still held by IS in Syria.

There were two targets, according to the statement, the first of which was a base that “contained 30 Da’esh [IS] members planning to hold an important leadership meeting.”

The second was another base where the statement alleged that 14 more were stationed that were known as “al-Inghemasyoun,” which, in Arabic, means “those who submerge themselves.”

According to local media, it is a term used for the handful of militants within IS that carry out the most difficult operations, such as the infiltration of a military base. An "Inghemasi," it was reported, is usually armed with light weapons or pistols and always dons a suicide vest. Should one run out of ammo or believe they will not survive a battle, they are to detonate their vest.

On Nov. 20, the Iraqi air force carried out a similar operation, resulting in 40 casualties and the destruction of various weaponry belonging to the extremist group.

Editing by John J. Catherine