Iraq receives four more F-16 jets from Washington
The Iraqi Defense Ministry stated on Sunday that Baghdad had received the third batch of F-16 fighter jets from the US that would be used to combat the Islamic State (IS) in the country.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Defense Ministry stated on Sunday that Baghdad had received the third batch of F-16 fighter jets from the US that would be used to combat the Islamic State (IS) in the country.
The Iraqi federal government continues to buy military warplanes from the United States and recently received four more F-16 jets.
According to the Defense Ministry, the fighter planes would be involved in eradicating IS insurgents in the country.
The arrival of the warplanes is part of the Iraq – US agreement where Iraq had spent about two billion USD to purchase 36 brand new F-16 fighter jets.
The agreement was signed in 2014 during the former Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki’s reign.
So far, Baghdad has received 10 warplanes in total from three military batches that have been sent by the US since 2014.
The delivery of the jets was delayed due to the security concerns after jihadists took control of large swaths of territory in Iraq in June 2014.
According to the spokesperson of the US-led coalition against IS Colonel Steve Warren, the delivery of warplanes was pending until the Iraqi pilots completed a course, which required nearly two years to finish.
Moreover, Warren also revealed that Baghdad had already used the previously delivered jets in the fight against IS, helping Iraqi forces advance in many areas.
“The Iraqis have put those [jets] to good use,” the Colonel told Reuters.
“We look forward to this [added] capability along with the additional trained pilots,” he concluded.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany