U.S. fighter jets and drones Saturday launched five more airstrikes against Islamist militants in Iraq Saturday, destroying targets near the Mosul Dam, the military said.
Strikes destroyed an armed vehicle, fighting position, weapons and a building being used by the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, the extremist al-Qaeda breakaway group that has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria and brutalized minorities in the region. All aircraft exited the area safely, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. American aircraft have so far conducted 115 strikes across Iraq since President Barack Obama authorized air power to beat back ISIS in Iraq earlier this month.
Also Saturday, ISIS beheaded a Lebanese soldier who was one of 19 captured when the terror group seized a Lebanese border town for a few days this month, an execution which was recorded and posted to social media. ISIS confirmed that it carried out the latest execution. The militant group sparked international outrage when it beheaded captured American journalist James Foley two weeks ago.
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