KIRKUK
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant left 70 militants dead in northern Iraq, an Iraqi army commander said Monday.
Hiva Abdollah, deputy commander of Kirkuk Operations Unit, said the coalition's warplanes bombed ISIL positions in Maqtap Khalit and Talalvard, about 7 miles from Kirkuk province.
"The bombardment lasted for hours overnight and 47 ISIL militants were wounded in the airstrikes," said Abdollah. "Warplanes also destroyed 40 vehicles belonging to the militant group, which controls large territories in Iraq and Syria."
Abdollah also said ISIL had plans to attack and seize Kirkuk.
"The group deployed hundreds of militants to the south of the province," he added.
Since mid-June, fighting in Iraq has pitted the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga forces against ISIL militants, who took control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.
The U.S. is leading an international coalition that has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
www.aa.com.tr/en
