AFP: US-led raids 'destroy IS bridges' on Syria-Iraq border
Beirut (AFP) - US-led coalition air strikes destroyed early Friday two key bridges used by the Islamic State group on the Syrian side of the Iraqi border, a monitoring group said.
The Pentagon confirmed strikes in the area, and a senior US officer said they will have a "profound impact" on IS abilities to carry out operations in the neighbouring and strategically important Iraqi province of Anbar.
The coalition "destroyed two bridges between the Syrian city of Albu Kamal and the Iraqi border," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"These bridges are strategically important for IS's movements between Albu Kamal and Iraq," he said.
The jihadists seized Albu Kamal and the nearby border crossing in July 2014, linking their territory in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor to areas they control in Iraq's western Anbar province.
The two bridges leading out of Albu Kamal -- one to the east, and one to the southeast -- were IS's "main routes to the Iraqi border," Abdel Rahman said.
WNU Editor: These bridges should have been taken out over a year ago .... to say that I find this incomprehensible is an understatement. I am sure that U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon were aware on how important these bridges were to the Islamic State war machine .... and I am also sure that they warned the White House that these targets should be taken out. I can only assume that this lack of action and/or urgency is reflective of the overall reluctance/fear/worry of escalation/lackadaisical/etc. approach to warfare by this White House ... especially since Day One they have made it clear that they do not want to be involved in another Middle Eastern war. Unfortunately .... I fear that this is one of those situations where we may not want war .... but war wants us .... and this conflict against the Islamic State is only beginning.
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