This file photo shows an Iraqi Air Force AC-208 Cessna Caravan aircrew launch a Hellfire missile during a previous test at a target on the Aziziyah Training Range, south of Baghdad, Nov. 8, 2010. US Army photo by SGT Brandon Bolick.
On September 3, warplanes of the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) carried out airstrikes against a hideout of ISIS cells near the town of al-Dibs in the northern province of Kirkuk.
The pinpoint airstrikes were carried out in support of security forces who were conducting a security operation in al-Dibs, the IQAF said in a statement, without providing any details on the results of the attack.
A video released by the IQAF shows an AC-208 Combat Caravan counter-insurgency aircraft firing an AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided missile at the hideout, which is seen burning later on in the footage.
The IQAF stepped up operations against ISIS in recent months. During August, Iraqi F-16IQ fighter jets carried out 11 combat sorties, while AC-208 aircraft carried out 12. In addition, the air force’s King Air 350ER aircraft carried 17 surveillance sorites. These operations inflicted heavy losses on the terrorist group.
Iraq announced the defeat of ISIS in 2017. Since then, the terrorist group’s cells have been waging an insurgency in different parts of the country. The group’s influence is today especially strong in the western, northern and eastern regions.
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