US and coalition aircraft are now targeting bridges and roads inside Mosul in an attempt to counter ISIS’s favorite weapon—vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. While the US-led coalition had hoped to leave Mosul’s infrastructure as healthy as possible in the fight to retake the city, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi made the decision that since ISIS is using bridges and roads to move explosives between the west and east sides of the city, there was “little choice but to disable those bridges,” British Army Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said during a Wednesday briefing. Four bridges inside Mosul have been disabled by airstrikes, and several roads have been “cratered” in an attempt to stop ISIS’s ability to drive suicide car bombs toward Iraqi forces, said Jones. Since this effort began, there has been a reduction in suicide attacks, though Jones would not provide specifics. Coalition aircraft, since the start of the Mosul campaign, have dropped more than 4,800 precision bombs, artillery shells, and rockets on ISIS targets inside the city. Iraqi and coalition force still expect “tough fighting” for weeks ahead in the battle, Jones said.
Hawaii F-22s Wrap Up Deployment to Japan
April 9, 2021
F-22s and Airmen from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, forward deployed to Japan for almost one month to train with Japanese and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft as part of a “dynamic force employment” operation. The Raptors from the Active-duty 19th Fighter Squadron and Air National Guard 199th Fighter Squadron deployed…