US-Led Coalition Strikes Mosque In Syria Misused By Islamic State - Joint Task Force

The US-led coalition launched a strike against a mosque in Syria's Baghouz Fawqani that was previously used by the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said in a news release

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2019) The US-led coalition launched a strike against a mosque in Syria's Baghouz Fawqani that was previously used by the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said in a news release.

"Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve launched a precision strike in support of Syrian Democratic Forces against an ISIS [Islamic State] command and control facility, formerly used as a mosque in Baghouz Fawqani, Syria, on Feb. 11, 2019," the release said on Monday.

According to the release, the mosque lost its protected status when Islamic State fighters started to use it to direct attacks and employ vehicle-borne explosive devices.

"This mosque lost its protected status when ISIS [Islamic State] deliberately chose to use it as a command and control center," CJTF-OIR Deputy Commander-Strategy and Information Maj.

Gen. Christopher Ghika said in the release.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said he will likely announce within days that the Islamic State has lost all its territory in Syria and Iraq as the US-led coalition and allied Syrian Democratic Forces will soon finish fully liberating all Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.

In December, Trump announced that all US forces would leave Syria and declared the Islamic State defeated in that country.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries has said it has conducted military operations against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's operations in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.