(Zaman Al Wasl)- Iraq has conducted an air strike on three houses in the town of Hajin in eastern Deir Ezzor province where Daesh (ISIS) leaders were meeting, killing 45 members of the militant group, its military said on Saturday.
"Iraqi F-16 jets carried out a successful air strike that targeted a meeting of Daesh leaders ... in the Hajin area within Syrian territory. The operation resulted in the complete destruction of the targets, and the killing of around 45 terrorists," the military's joint operations command said, according to Reuters.
Iraqi jets hit three houses connected by a trench, the military said, adding that those killed included the group's "deputy war minister", one of its "media emirs", its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's personal courier and its chief of police.
The strikes were in support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF declared gains in the eastern bank of Euphrates River, taking new strategic crossing from Daesh.
Forces from the Iraqi Shiite militia, al-Hashad al-Sha'abi, have joined the SDF at the border crossing of Tel Sfouk on Saturday after clearing last pockets along the border.
On Friday, 17 people, including 9 Daesh militants were killed in the US-led coalition airstrikes in Deir Ezzor province.
The strikes targeted the town of al-Sha'fah near the Iraqi border.
The US-led attack failed to rule out civilian casualties as 8 people were killed.
The U.S.-led airstrikes have killed more than 2000 civilians and have displaced thousands more since 2015, according to the United Nations.
The SDF, which the Kurdish YPG militia spearheads, has been the main partner of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria, helping drive the jihadists out of swathes of northern and eastern Syria last year.
Zaman Al Wasl
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