US led collation spokesperson Colonel Steve Warren announced that coalition forces killed 10 “Islamic State” leaders, including people involved in the recent Paris attacks, in what is the second blow to the group after their recent defeat by Iraqi forces in Ramadi, Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar Al-Abadi visited Ramadi and raised the national flag Tuesday after the army seized the city from IS militants.
“Over the past month, we’ve killed 10 (IS) leadership figures with targeted air strikes, including several external attack planners, some of whom are linked to the Paris attacks,” said Warren.
Some of those leaders had planes to execute more terror attacks, according to Warren.
Abd El Kader Hakim, believed by Warren to be facilitating attacks abroad, was killed in Mousel on 26 December.
Warren said an air raid carried out by the collation on 24 December killed Sherif Al-Moazen, who has a direct link with Abdelhameed Abaoud, a primary planner of the Paris attacks.
IS lost an important supply road in Syria near its stronghold in Raqqa Saturday. Warren believes that air raids played in important role in weakening IS.
The recapture of Ramadi, the capital of Al-Anbar the biggest province in Iraq, constitutes a key victory since it strips IS of a strategic area, which extends from near Baghdad to the Syrian borders.
This operation was carried out by Iraqi troops, who were trained by the US, and did not include any intervention from the Shi’a militants who led fights against IS in other locations.
