U.S.-led raid targets top IS figure, Pentagon employs B-52 bomberApril 21, 2016 - 13:30 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A senior Islamic State figure in Iraq has been targeted in a U.S.-led commando raid, the Pentagon said Wednesday, April 20, as Kurdish officials claimed he had been killed, AFP reports. The assault late Sunday, the latest raid by U.S. special operators on a mission to kill or capture IS leaders, occurred at an undisclosed location in northern Iraq and targeted Suleiman Abd Shabib al-Jabouri, Baghdad-based U.S. military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said. He worked as "one of ISIL's military emirs and an ISIL war council member," Warren told Pentagon reporters in a phone call, using an acronym for the IS group. "Al-Jabouri's removal will degrade ISIL's leadership network and impact their ability to coordinate attacks and defend ISIL strongholds," he added, according to AFP. Warren declined to comment on whether Jabouri was killed, but in a statement to AFP on Wednesday the Kurdish regional security council said he died. "Al-Jabouri, also known as Abu Saif, was a member ISIL's military council, supervising the group's activities in South Mosul and Makhmour. In the joint operation, two of his aides were also killed," the statement read. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force for the first time deployed a B-52 bomber against the Islamic State, the Pentagon said Wednesday as it ramps up a 20-month campaign to smash the jihadists. The bombing mission, in which a hulking B-52 destroyed a weapons storage facility south of Mosul, comes the same week that Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited Baghdad and announced extra US troops, cash and equipment for the anti-IS campaign in Iraq. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. Armenia, India hold first defense consultations The meeting was attended by Indian Ambassador Nilakshi Saha Sinha and Defense Attaché Brigadier General Naveen Nijhawan. |