The majority of the airstrikes were carried out by the Iraqi air force, later joined by US-led coalition planes.
“More than 20 helicopters took part in the mission and were able to destroy more than 138 vehicles,” said Iraqi army commander Lt. Gen. Hamid al-Maliki in a video statement released by the Iraqi Defense Ministry on Wednesday.
On Thursday, an American spokesperson confirmed that coalition and Iraqi planes had attacked two ISIS convoys – one on late Tuesday night and a second on Wednesday. A suspected 175 ISIS vehicles were hit in the two sets of airstrikes, according to Col. Christopher Garver.
A large group of vehicles gathering west of Tofaha Bridge southwest of Fallujah were identified on the ground as belonging to ISIS. Iraqi and coalition airstrikes attacked the convoy late Tuesday and into early Wednesday morning. “We estimate coalition strikes destroyed approximately 55 Da’esh [ISIS] vehicles and we know the Iraqi security forces destroyed more,” said Garver.
Later on Wednesday, a second group of ISIS vehicles in the Albu Bali neighbourhood east of Ramadi were struck by both Iraqi and coalition planes. “We estimate the coalition strikes destroyed approximately 120 Da’esh vehicles. Again, we know the Iraqi security forces destroyed more,” Garver confirmed, noting that some militants fled the vehicles on foot.
Garver estimated that the vehicles destroyed by coalition forces could have carried as many as 250 militants. According to Iraqi military sources, the initial ISIS convoys were several kilometres long.
It is believed the militants were trying to flee towards Syria and Mosul. “This is a desperate attempt on the part of the terrorists to flee to their areas in al-Qaim near the Syrian border and Tharthar,” Ismail Mahalawi, Anbar Operations Command chief, told AFP.
Al-Qaim is a town on the Iraqi-Syria border, 330 kilometres northwest of Fallujah. Tharthar is a lake north of Fallujah from which ISIS has routes into Mosul, northern Iraq.
The central Iraqi city of Fallujah was retaken from the Islamic State on Sunday after a month-long campaign by the Iraqi military and special forces, joined by Shiite militia and backed by US-led coalition air support.
Some 1,800 ISIS militants were killed in the battle for Fallujah, estimated Lt. General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, Iraqi commander of the Falllujah operation, on Sunday.
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