US targets ISIS training camp in Iraq: Centcom

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – US aircraft have targeted a training camp for Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in northern Iraq, bombing buildings, fighters and vehicles in the first such air strike, military officers said Thursday.

“In total, one air strike near an ISIL (Islamic State group) training camp southeast of Mosul destroyed an ISIL armed vehicle, two ISIL-occupied buildings and a large ISIL ground unit,” the US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement.

It was the first time US aircraft had targeted a training camp since the air campaign began on August 8, a US military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

About 40 jihadist fighters were on the ground at the time of the strike, the officer said.

A second air raid damaged an IS ammunition depot southeast of Baghdad, according to Central Command.

The air strikes, which involved both bombers and fighter jets, took place over the past 24 hours and “all aircraft exited the strike areas safely,” it said.

US warplanes have conducted 176 air strikes against the Sunni extremists since August 8, mostly in northern Iraq.

President Barack Obama has vowed a relentless campaign against the IS group, which has seized a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. – Rappler.com