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Chalk one up for the good guys.
Over the weekend, the U.S. military conducted airstrikes in support of an operation to deliver humanitarian assistance and protect civilians who had been trapped in Amerli for months by ISIS terrorists and who were threatened with a possible massacre.
DoD:
Two months ago, hundreds of ISIL terrorists advanced on Amerli cutting off food, water, and medical supplies to thousands of Shia Turkomen living there. ISIL has since blocked many attempts by Iraqi Security Forces and the United Nations from delivering critical supplies to Amerli, threatening the remaining population.
At the request of the Iraqi government, U.S. forces airdropped 109 bundles of much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Amerli, including the Shia Turkomen minority ethnic group.
Two U.S. C-17s and two U.S. C-130s airdropped the supplies, delivering approximately 10,500 gallons of fresh drinking water and approximately 7,000 meals ready to eat. In addition, aircraft from Australia, France, and the United Kingdom also dropped humanitarian aid.
To support the delivery of this humanitarian assistance, the U.S. military also conducted three airstrikes in coordination with the isolated Iraqi security forces responsible for protecting Amerli.
Fighter aircraft struck and destroyed three ISIL Humvees, one ISIL armed vehicle, one ISIL checkpoint and one ISIL tank near Amerli. All aircraft safely exited the area.
Today, the Iraqi military announced that it had broken a siege of the town of Amerli by ISIS, after the U.S. launched the air campaign.
TIME: “Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen had liberated the Shiite Turkmen town on Sunday, the AP reported, bringing to an end a months-long siege by Sunni militants.”
Read more here
The Washington Post:
“Amerli has been liberated,” said Mahdi Taqi, a local politician and Amerli resident who was inside the town during the siege. “There is so much joy and people are cheering in the streets.”
Jihadists had surrounded the town in June, preventing food and other aid from reaching the population there. Residents had armed themselves to fend off the militants, who have made sweeping gains across the country in recent months, but critical supplies began to run low.
The U.S. strikes around Amerli in support of Iraqi troops on Saturday, and which the Pentagon said would be “limited in their scope and duration,” appeared to swiftly tilt the balance in favor of Iraqi government forces.
Militia leaders aiding the offensive and Iraqi government officials had said that a coordinated assault to clear the Islamic State-controlled towns around Amerli – and eventually the siege’s front line – began after nightfall in Iraq on Saturday.
Read more here
Lead photo: U.S. Air Force Master Sgts. Stephen Brown and Emily Edmunds attach candy to container delivery system bundles filled with fresh drinking water on a C-17 Globemaster III in preparation for a humanitarian airdrop over the area of Amerli, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2014. The candy was collected by the squadron to supplement United States’ humanitarian aid. Brown and Edmunds, loadmasters, are assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. Photo DoD
