In what it described as the largest joint operation since the March capture of Baghuz, the Islamic State’s last bastion in eastern Syria, the Coalition confirmed that CJTF-OIR and Iraqi forces on April 24 attacked ISIS sleeper cells in northern Iraq inflicting heavy casualties.
In the first acknowledged combat employment of the fighter jets by the U.S. military, two U.S. Air Force F-35A joint strike fighters conducted air bombardments in the same area on April 30.
The Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve supported an Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service attack on ISIS sleeper cells and its support base in the Wadi Ashai area of northern Iraq on April 24.
Wadi Ash Shai is in the Hamrin mountains in northern Iraq where ISIS is generally believed to be moving logistical materials and people in an attempt to support its resurgent operations.
CJTF-OIR destroyed multiple ISIS tunnel systems, buildings, caves, and command and control positions in preparation for Counter Terrorism Service clearance operations and killed several ISIS fighters in the battlefield.
