US, Coalition Bombing Bridges in Mosul to Stop ISIS Car Bombs

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.