Airstrikes battered Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants Saturday in attacks in Syria and Iraq, with at least a dozen hitting Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
The effort, in which the United States is involved with a coalition of other countries, comes as Iraqi forces are readying for an attack to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, CNN reported.
The Islamic State has been strengthening its defenses in Mosul, which it took over in a June siege. The Pentagon is currently assessing whether it will need to commit ground troops in a forthcoming attempt to oust the terrorist group from the city.
Kurdish forces that have surrounded Mosul in an attempt to cut off Islamic State supply lines into the city said the intensity and frequency of airstrikes has increased since Tuesday, according to CNN.
That was when the terrorist group released a video of captive Jordanian pilot Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh being burned to death, a move that enraged Jordanian King Abdullah II.
