Image by Zialater/CC BY-SA 4.0 - 250 Islamic State fighters were reportedly killed during a series of U.S. airstikes in Iraq
- The ISIS fighters were driving in a convoy of 40 vehicles trying to leave a neighborhood outside the city of Fallujah
- The airstrikes came less than 24 hours after the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey was bombed by suspected ISIS suicide bombers
A series of airstrikes conducted by the United States on the outskirts of the Fallujah City in Iraq killed at least 250 fighters of the Islamic State or ISIS on Wednesday, June 29.
A senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the airstrikes.
“There was a strike on a convoy of ISIS fighters trying to leave a neighborhood on the outskirts of southern Fallujah that we struck,” the defense official said.
The killed members of the Islamic extremist group were reportedly driving in a convoy of 40 vehicles trying to get out of a neighborhood outside Fallujah.
“We’re still assessing the strikes and gathering details, but the number of fighters killed is consistent with our early assessments,” the official said.
According to Phil Stewart of Reuters, if the number of killed ISIS fighters is confirmed, the airstrikes would be the deadliest ever against the terrorist group.
The U.S. airstrikes came less than 24 hours after an airport in Istanbul, Turkey was bombed; killing at least 41 people and injuring over a hundred others.
The attack on Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, perpetrated by three suicide bombers, was believed to be orchestrated by the Islamic State.
Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan on Wednesday said the attack “bears the hallmarks of ISIL’s depravity.”
“If anybody here believes the U.S. homeland is hermetically sealed and that ISIL would not consider that, I would guard against it,” Brennan said; using another acronym for the group.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said ‘the evidence points to ‘Daesh’, using another name for Islamic State, even though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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