Coalition airstrikes kill ISIS emir in Anbar, destroy vehicles

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US-led coalition airstrikes around Iraq’s Ramadi killed an Islamic State (ISIS) leader and destroyed three military trucks and a medical vehicle in the hands of the group, a tribal military commander  said on Sunday.

“Airstrikes by coalition warplanes pounded an ISIS gathering in the village of Asriya in western Ramadi, killing an ISIS emir (leader) named Mustaffa Assafi along with five of his bodyguards,” said Ghasan Issawi, commander of the Anbar tribal fighters.

Meanwhile, the militants executed seven of their own in Ramadi’s Sana’i neighborhood on charges of desertion from the battlefield, another military source in Anbar told Rudaw.

The Anbar joint operation command announced a week ago that they were in control of Anbar University and southern Ramadi, and that Iraqi joint forces continue fighting to clear the province of ISIS.

An Iraqi officer said on Sunday that joint army and Shiite forces were geared up for an operation to open a corridor to Ramadi, where a war is underway against ISIS.

In mid-July, the Iraqi defense ministry announced the resumption of an offensive against ISIS in Anbar province with a joint army, police and Shiite force of 10,000.