29 Daesh terrorists killed in Iraq by airstrikes

By Ahmed Qassem and Hussein al-Amir

NINEVEH, Iraq

At least 29 Daesh militants were killed Friday when Iraqi warplanes struck a number of the terrorist group’s locations in northern and eastern parts of the country, security sources said.

“F-16 fighter jets waged seven consecutive airstrikes on Daesh positions in the Al-Wadaa area in the northern part of Nineveh province near the Syrian border,” Captain Zuhair al-, a border officer, told Anadolu Agency.

The operation -- which left 27 Daesh militants dead and four tunnels destroyed -- was carried out based on intelligence received from a U.S.-led international coalition.

Meanwhile, in Diyala province, Army Captain Habib al-Shimmari told Anadolu Agency that an Iraqi jet had raided a Daesh position in Hawd al-Zur northeast of provincial capital Baqubah.

The airstrike left two Daesh terrorists dead, including a top commander responsible for reconnaissance in Diyala, al-Shimmari said.

Daesh overran vast swathes of northern and western Iraq in mid-2014. But its military presence was largely destroyed late last year following a nine-month campaign by the Iraqi army centered on the northern city of Mosul.