Coalition airstrikes hit 39 ISIS positions in Qarachogh near Makhmour
Coalition jets conducted another 18 precision airstrikes against 39 ISIS dwellings near Makhmour, coalition spokesperson Col. Wayne Marotto said
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Warplanes of the international US-led coalition struck 39 dwellings used by the so-called Islamic State in an area known as Qarachogh Mountain, located outside the disputed district of Makhmour, the coalition spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“In support of our Iraqi partners ground ops in remote areas, the Coalition jets conducted another 18 precision airstrikes pummeling 39 Daesh dwellings in the far Qarachogh [mountain],” Coalition spokesperson Colonel Wayne Marotto tweeted, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
In support of our Iraqi partners ground ops in remote areas, the @Coalition jets conducted another 18 precision airstrikes pummeling 39 Daesh dwellings in the far Qarachogh MTN. This coop reflects our close partnership w/the ISF & their success against Daesh. #DefeatDaesh https://t.co/ndiewNtRlX pic.twitter.com/SqkdeWHNVi
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) March 23, 2021
He added that his cooperation reflects "our close partnership" with the Iraqi security forces and "their success against ISIS.”
There remains to be seen if any suspected members of the group were killed or wounded in the latest counterterrorism operation in the rugged Qarachogh region, some 50 kilometers southwest of the Kurdistan Region's capital Erbil. Similar airstrikes targeted hideouts in the area this month.
Read More: US-led Coalition warplanes strike ISIS positions near Iraq’s disputed Makhmour
Yehia Rasool, the military spokesperson for Iraq’s Commander-in-Chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi, tweeted on March 20 that in 10 days, Coalition jets carried out at least 133 airstrikes against ISIS targets. Marotto confirmed in another tweet that these airstrikes took place in Qarachogh mountain.
General Sirwan Barzani, the Peshmerga commander at the Gwer-Makhmour front line, said on March 11 that coalition jets bombed Islamic State targets 28 times near Makhmour.
The Islamic State militant group occupies a stretch of near-inhospitable land between the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces and the federal Iraqi forces in the Qarachogh area, near Makhmour district, which is part of territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Following the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces held their front lines in the disputed areas, preventing sleeper cells from entering their territory despite the terrorist group controlling adjacent land.
Security in those regions, however, significantly deteriorated after Iraqi forces and Iran-backed Shia militias overran nearby Kirkuk and other disputed territories in response to the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum and drove Kurdish forces from the area.
On Oct. 17, 2017, the day after Iraqi forces took over Kirkuk, Peshmerga forces withdrew from Makhmour and Gwer, both south of Erbil.
After the Iran-backed militias entered Makhmour, Islamic State fighters returned nearby, and still threaten local villagers and farmers, more than three years after the federal government in Baghdad declared a military victory over the group in late 2017.
In response to the Islamic State threats, Peshmerga forces and Iraqi troops, backed by US-led coalition airpower, have launched several military operations to eliminate sleeper cells hiding in areas surrounding Mount Qarachogh.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly
