Surge in U.S. airstrikes backs Iraqi Kurds’ offensive against Islamic State

http://www.washingtonpost.com/surge-in-us-airstrikes-backs-iraqi-kurds-offensive-against-islamic-state/2014/12/17/a7f050f2-b7f4-4c3a-b777-aa0561d2ad4c_story.html?wprss=rss_national-security

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U.S. and allied warplanes have launched a barrage of airstrikes over northern Iraq in a demonstration of American willingness to intensify air power against the Islamic State when local forces mount an organized attack.

The U.S. military said in a statement that allied planes conducted a total of 61 strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq from Dec. 15-17, including 45 strikes in support of Kurdish peshmerga troops who are fighting to reclaim areas around Sinjar and Zumar in northern Iraq.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation, said the strikes aimed to help Kurdish peshmerga forces as they launched their operation to oust militants from strategic areas.

“This clearing operation is an important step in disrupting ISIL’s freedom of movement and ability to conduct resupply operations in vicinity of Zumar and Sinjar,” the official told The Washington Post, using an acronym for the extremist group.

The overnight strikes hit militant checkpoints, fighting positions and equipment, the statement said. The scale of the attacks is noteworthy in a campaign that has been characterized by U.S. restraint in the sky. In contrast, U.S. and allied planes launched a total of 42 strikes in Iraq during the entire week beginning Dec 8.

U.S. military commanders have suggested that they would amplify the strikes across Iraq when Iraqi military forces, struggling to reorganize against the well-armed militants, can advance against the Islamic State.

A Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kurdish leaders and intelligence officials had been in touch with U.S. Central Command about trying to retake Sinjar, the site of a standoff between militants and minority Yazidis this summer. The area is difficult to subdue due to its proximity to militant strongholds of Tal Afar and Mosul, which Iraqi forces are not expected to attempt to recapture until next spring.

Kurdish officials said that peshmerga fighters had broken through Islamic State front lines and forced the militants out of some areas.