US begins airstrikes against IS in Iraq

At Iraq’s request, the US began airstrikes in Tikrit in support of a stalled Iraqi ground offensive to retake the city from Islamic State fighters.

The bombing marked a significant expansion of the US military role in Iraq.

“These strikes are intended to destroy ISIL strongholds with precision, thereby saving innocent Iraqi lives while minimising” unintended damage to civilian structures, said Lieutenant General James L Terry, commander of the US-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State group, said in a written statement.

“This will further enable Iraqi forces under Iraqi command to maneuver and defeat ISIL in the vicinity of Tikrit,” Terry said.

Tikrit is deemed an important test of the ability of Iraq, with coalition support, to retake ground it ceded to the Islamic State last year. The US initially did not provide air support in Tikrit because Baghdad pointedly chose instead to partner with Iran in a battle it predicted would yield a quick victory. In recent days, however, the Pentagon has called the Iraqi offensive “stalled.”

An Associated Press correspondent in Tikrit reported hearing warplanes overhead late last night, followed by multiple explosions. An Iraqi commander said a warehouse used to store IS weapons was bombed by a US plane, and a US official in Washington confirmed that arms warehouses were among targets.