An Islamic State command-and-control headquarters in western Mosul was destroyed by a coalition air strike, the Defense Department announced on Saturday.
The five-story Bab Sinjar administration building, which also served as a propaganda facility, was located in the Jumhuri medical community complex, the release from Operation Inherent Resolve said. The U.S.-led coalition carried out the strike in Iraq on Friday.
Islamic State terrorists regularly use protected sites like hospitals, schools and mosques for activities to try to protect themselves from air strikes, but the coalition determined through intelligence collection that the building was no longer used for any medical purposes and that there were no civilians at the site.
The air strike was one of three in Mosul on Friday. The other strikes destroyed other Islamic State assets, including four watercraft, three front-end loaders, two shipping containers, a mortar system, an artillery system and a facility to make vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.
The effort to retake Mosul from the Islamic State has been ongoing for months, and the Pentagon said Friday that the city is now fully encircled by Iraqi forces, decreasing the readiness of the ISIS forces since resupply is difficult.
“Mosul is going to be liberated. It is a military fact,” Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said.
