US, allies conduct 24 strikes against Islamic State
WASHINGTON - The US-led coalition carried out 24 strikes against Islamic State militants on Wednesday, putting pressure on the group around Ramadi and Mosul in Iraq and along the Mar'a line in Syria, the US military said in a statement on Thursday.
Warplanes carried out nine air strikes near Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, which fell to Islamic State fighters in 2014. The coalition has stepped up strikes around Mosul over the past two weeks, hitting it more than 90 times, a pace three times that of the previous two-week period.
Coalition aircraft also continued to pound the Ramadi area as Iraqi troops worked to secure the city after recapturing it from the militants in recent days. Warplanes carried out five strikes around Ramadi on Wednesday and also conducted four against the group in Mar'a in western Syria.
