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U.S. Airstrikes On ISIS Convoy Leave 250 Islamic State Fighters Dead, Videos And Images Of Attack Released

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 09:37 PST, Jun 30, 2016

Hours after U.S. defense officials announced that an airstrike carried out on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Fallujah left 250 ISIS fighters dead, combat footage, reportedly showing the airstrike, has been released online, Russia Today reports. The footage, apparently released by Iraqi military officials, shows a large convoy of vehicles being attacked by fighter jets and helicopters. At this time, it remains unclear if unmanned drones were also used in the operation. The footage is embedded below.

The nearly two-minute long clip shows the meticulous destruction of the targets. Towards the end of the clip, footage allegedly taken from the ground after the operation ended was also shown. The later part of the footage shows pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs, allegedly used by ISIS fighters to escape, completely destroyed. Some of the pickup trucks were also carrying arms and ammunition, and the same can also be seen in the video.

U.S. military officials had earlier said that the convoy included more than 40 vehicles. More than 250 individuals, most of them ISIS fighters, were part of the convoy, and almost all of them have been killed. These fighters were fleeing the city of Fallujah, which was recently liberated from ISIS control after the Islamic State overran the city back in January 2014. Officials were quick to add that the number of dead ISIS fighters is an early estimate and that the final toll could be higher.

Meanwhile, several other video clips and images have surfaced online claiming to be from the area where the strikes happened. We have embedded a few of them below. The one below shows an ISIS fighter being captured following the airstrikes.

The second one, embedded below, shows the body of an alleged ISIS fighter.

This video claims to show a pickup truck full of weapons used by ISIS fighters.

Before the aforementioned combat footage was released, doubts were already cast on the operation. A couple of websites even claimed that the convoy was full of civilians and that not a single ISIS fighter was killed in the operation.

The attack on this ISIS convoy came just hours after the Istanbul Airport bombings that left more than 40 people dead and hundreds injured. Initial signs point towards the attack being the handiwork of ISIS suicide bombers.

As for the newly liberated city of Fallujah, it would take years for normal life to resume in the battered city, which has almost completely reduced to a large pile of rubble. Residents of the city fled after the battle between ISIS and the coalition forces started a few months ago. Thousands of Fallujah residents are still staying in refugee camps set up outside the city and are still wary of making their way back to their homes. Fallujah is located 40 miles north of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

Following the fall of Fallujah, the Iraqi military is now setting its eyes on the city of Mosul, which has been completely under ISIS control since 2014.

[Photo by Karim Kadim/AP Images]

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