US-led coalition destroys Islamic State hub in Iraq
Jets bomb football stadium in Anbar province that served as key jihadist command and supply center
The US-led international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group bombed a key jihadist command and supply hub in the area of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, it said Wednesday.
A video of the strike on the football stadium showed a massive secondary explosion at the site.
“The stadium was a key (IS) command and supply hub in the Ramadi region and was being used to store large amounts of homemade explosives, weapons and ammunition,” the coalition said in a statement.
“Destroying this hub will significantly disrupt (IS’s) ability to conduct operations and resupply their fighters in Ramadi.”
IS overran Ramadi in mid-May in a major setback for Iraqi forces, which had held out against militants in parts of the city for well over a year.
The group seized swathes of Iraqi territory in a June 2014 offensive, and the coalition is carrying out daily air strikes against the jihadists to assist Iraqi forces, which have made little progress on the ground in recent weeks.