Intense Airstrikes Near Gwer Kill 16 IS Militants

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—US airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) positions near Gwer Friday night killed 16 Islamist militants, said the Peshmerga commander in the area.

Sirwan Barzani, commander of the Makhmour-Gwer region said that in two hours of airstrikes near Gwer, the US air force killed 16 IS militants and wounded several others.

According to the commander, a number of military vehicles and mounted guns were destroyed by the airstrikes and abandoned by the militants.

Barzani said that Friday night’s bombings were the longest round of airstrikes the area had witnessed since the start of US airstrikes against IS positions last month.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces recaptured the towns of Gwer and Makhmour from the IS forces after their brief control by the IS forces last month.

However, several Arab villages in the area are still under IS control and according to the Kurdish military, the IS-held area is subject to routine air bombardment to push back the militants towards Mosul.