US-led Coalition carries out airstrikes against IS positions southwest of Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United States-led Coalition battling the so-called Islamic State (IS) carried out airstrikes on the extremist group’s positions near Erbil, a security source said. 

According to the source, US-led Coalition warplanes struck several IS positions on Mount Qarachokh near the town of Makhmour, southwest of Erbil.

The airstrikes were carried out in the Gali Mnjran area at around 3 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday and lasted until late afternoon, the source added.

Casualties among the IS extremists remain unknown as small sleeper cells are spread in the Mount Qarachokh hideouts.

The Coalition has targeted the extremist group in the mountainous region in the past. In July, it conducted two airstrikes on IS positions on Mount Qarachokh.

On June 30, the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces and the US-led Coalition conducted a joint operation against IS near Makhmour, killing several members of the militant group.

Rizgar Mohammed, the Mayor of Makhmour, previously told Kurdistan 24 that IS members had increased their activities near the town, posing a direct threat to people’s lives in the area.

Since the removal of the Iraqi dictatorship in 2003, the town had been under the administration of the Kurdistan Region.

Following a military offensive on Kurdish forces last October, the region is now under the control of Iraqi troops and the Iran-backed Shia-dominated Hashd al-Shaabi militia.

Since then, tensions between Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga have created a security vacuum that the extremists are now trying to exploit. As a result, IS remnants have returned near Makhmour.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany