Coalition warplanes destroy Daesh ammo factory in Iraq

By Suleiman al-Qubeisi

ANBAR, Iraq

U.S.-led coalition warplanes have destroyed a major ammunition factory used by the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq’s western Anbar province, according to a high-ranking Iraqi army officer.

"The factory was located west of Haditha city, which stands some 160 kilometers [roughly 100 miles] west of [regional capital] Ramadi," Iraqi Army Major-General Qassem al-Mohammadi told Anadolu Agency late Thursday.

Six Daesh militants were killed and six pieces of artillery destroyed in the airstrike, he said.

Army Colonel Walid al-Duleimi, an army officer based in Anbar province, said coalition warplanes -- in coordination with Iraqi military intelligence -- had also struck a garage in Anbar’s town of Anah.

The garage, which was totally destroyed, had been considered one of the terrorist group’s most important bases in the area, according to al-Duleimi.

In a related development, Sadreddin Mahmoud, an officer in Iraq’s counter-terrorism agency, said Daesh militants had launched a series of counter-attacks on Thursday against Iraqi forces stationed in the city of Mosul, capital of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province.

He said Daesh had taken advantage of inclement weather -- which had prevented adequate air cover -- to attack Iraqi forces deployed in Mosul’s Al-Tamim and Kokjeli districts.

Mahmoud went on to assert that Iraqi forces had repelled the attacks, which had forced a number of civilians to flee from the Al-Tamim, Al-Moharebin and Al-Qadisiya districts.

As of Thursday, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces had retaken a total of 47 neighborhoods in Mosul. All retaken districts, however, remain within the range of Daesh fire.

Iraqi officials have vowed to recapture Mosul, which fell to the terrorist group in mid-2014, by year’s end.