US fighter jets bomb 16 more IS targets in Syria, Iraq
US Navy fighter jets flying from an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea bombed 16 new Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria on June 6.
 |
Now in their fourth day, the strikes from the Mediterranean have opened a new front in the US air campaign against the militant group.
"We're getting the job done," Rear Admiral Bret Batchelder, commander of the USS Harry S. Truman strike group, told reporters on the ship as the strikes were being conducted.
He said carrier-based F/A-18 fighter jets had released 10 to 20 naval munitions on targets in Iraq and Syria since Friday, when the Truman moved to the Mediterranean from the Persian Gulf to resume bombing militant targets in both countries.
Navy officials gave no details about what targets were hit and destroyed, but said they were largely the same as in previous strikes from the Gulf, with a focus on destroying and eroding Islamic State's financial base.
Shifting the Truman to the Mediterranean was intended to demonstrate that the US Navy is ready to respond to threats and hit targets from anywhere in the world, Batchelder said.
If needed, the ship's 72 fighter jets and other aircraft also could be used to hit targets in Libya, where Islamic State militants are making big inroads, but that is not why the ship was redeployed to the Mediterranean, Batchelder said.
