U.S. and Iraqi forces on Tuesday dropped 36,000 kg (80,000 pounds) of ordnance on an island along the Tigris river occupied by Islamic State fighters, the U.S.-led Coalition said.
U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II aircraft alongside Iraqi air force aircraft bombed Qanus island in Saladin province overnight in an operation to destroy a major ISIS transit hub from Syria and the Jazeera desert into Mosul, Makhmour and Kirkuk in Iraq, CJTF-OIR said on September 10.
Qanus island is near the U.S. forward operating base in Qayyarah.
#CJTFOIR and its Iraqi partners @iraqicts dropped a total of 80,000 lbs. of bombs on Qanus Island, Iraq in an effort to clear the area of Daesh fighters. #DefeatDaesh #F35 #F15 #OneMissionManyNations https://t.co/LHUOkrm2IO
— Operation Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) September 10, 2019
The 2nd Iraqi Special Operations Forces Battalion was leading ground operations in the area on Tuesday, the Coalition said.
Despite former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claiming victory over ISIS in 2017 the group has maintained sleeper cells across the country, primarily near the Syrian border but also in Kirkuk province.
The F-35A weapons payload is about 8,100 kg (18,000 lbs) while an F-15 can carry 13,380 kg (29,500 lbs).
Last September the first U.S. F-35 fighters were used in combat in a mission against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In May 2018, the Israeli military said that it had used its newly acquired F-35s in combat operations, becoming the first country to do so.
