Now that we have boots on the ground in Iraq we've finally had our first fire-fight with ISIS:
American troops battle ISIS for first time as they see off attempted attack by militants on Iraqi base
Published: 06:12 EST, 18 December 2014 | Updated: 14:26 EST, 18 December 2014
American troops battle ISIS for first time as they see off attempted attack by militants on Iraqi base
- Islamic State militants attempted to overrun Ein al-Asad base on Sunday
- US support troops and advisers killed an unknown number of the militants
- The troops were supported during the battle by F18 fighter jets
- ISIS forced to retreat after suffering casualties during two hour firefight
Published: 06:12 EST, 18 December 2014 | Updated: 14:26 EST, 18 December 2014
A number of militants have been killed in Islamic State's very first battle with U.S. ground troops after the extremists attempted to overrun an Iraqi military base.
The militants attacked Ein al-Asad military base on Sunday where more than 100 U.S. military support troops are based.
Despite launching the surprise attack just after midnight, ISIS's offensive was swiftly repelled when U.S. troops and F18 jets joined in the skirmish in support of the Iraqi Army.
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A US Navy Seal team secures the airfield at Ein al-Asad base during a visit by former president George W Bush
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US military experts arrived at Ein al-Asad airbase (pictured) last month to help train and support Iraqi forces
Facing both Iraqi and US troops supported by F18 jets, an unknown number of ISIS attackers were killed during the two hour firefight before being forced to retreat.
Ein al-Asad came under repeated attack by ISIS troops in October, however, now bolstered by the U.S. assistance, it poses a much more formidable target.
Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi, a tribal leader in the region, said 'US forces intervened because ISIS started to come near the base, which they are stationed in, so (it was) out of self-defense,' Shafaq News reported.
He added: 'We have made progress in (the) al-Dolab area, in which ISIS has withdrawn from.'
During the Iraq War, it was the largest airbase located within Iraq's Anbar province.
Although it scaled down in size following the conclusion of the war, it remains in use by the Iraq Army and is located deep within the remote areas on the front line against ISIS.
Meanwhile, Kurdish forces have launched an operation to retake the town of Sinjar in northwest Iraq after coalition planes pounded Islamic State positions overnight, Kurdish officials said.
The peshmerga fighters made gains against ISIS throughout the day, the officials said, driving the militants out of at least eight sub-districts in the Zumar area, east of Sinjar.
Obama says US led coalition will destroy Islamic State
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Ein al-Asad military airbase is located north-west of Baghdad (illustrated) and is a strategically important site for the Iraqi Army
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ISIS militants (pictured) failed to overrun the large military base in western Iraq after US troops stationed at the base assisted the Iraqi Army to repel the extremists' attack
If the peshmerga succeeded in recapturing the town, it would open up a corridor to Sinjar mountain, where hundreds of minority Yazidis have been besieged by ISIS militants since August.
It would also be a symbolic victory for the Kurds, whose reputation as fearsome warriors was bruised after Islamic State overpowered the peshmerga in Sinjar and killed or captured hundreds of Yazidis.
'At 8.00 this morning the ground offensive began to liberate Sinjar town,' said one official in the Kurdish region's Security Council, adding that coalition planes had bombed the area for several hours beforehand.
'There's evidence that a lot of ISIS fighters abandoned their weapons and fled the area.'
Several other Kurdish security officials gave similar accounts.
U.S. President Barack Obama cited the duty to prevent an impending massacre of Yazidis by Islamic State militants as one of the main reasons for authorising the first air strikes in Iraq this summer.
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The US has bombed areas in Sinjar ahead of a Kurdish peshmerga attempt to liberate the city. If recaptured, it would open up a corridor to Sinjar mountain (pictured), where hundreds of Yazidis remain besieged
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President Barack Obama said one of the main reasons for authorising air strikes was to prevent an impending massacre of the ethnic minority Yazidis (pictured)
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