US Air Strikes Drive IS Militants Away from Key Iraqi Dam

A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet takes off from the flight deck of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf to conduct strikes against the Islamic State (IS) fighters in northern Iraq , 15 August 2014. EPA/BGNES

US warplanes have pushed back Islamic State fighters threatening Iraq key Haditha dam, witnesses have said.

Reuters quoted Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, leader of a pro-Iraqi government paramilitary force in western Iraq, as saying Sunday’s air strikes were very accurate and there was no collateral damage.

If the jihadist militants had gained control of the dam, “many areas of Iraq would have been seriously threatened, even Baghdad,” Abu Risha said.

The air strikes have destroyed fighting positions of IS militants, six military vehicles and a command post, the US military said in a statement.

The strikes were the first reported offensive into western Anbar province close to the border with Syria since the US launched an air campaign on Islamic State forces in northern Iraq last month.

If Haditha dam would be captured or destroyed by IS fighters, the ensuing damage would be ‘very significant’, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel commented.

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