Iraqi Defence Ministry

Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under ISIS control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based al-Sumariya TV reported on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman.

Coalition warplanes bombed one of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's palaces which was being used as a training base by the ISIS jihadist group, Britain's Ministry of Defence said today.

Iraqi security forces freed a group of Yazidi women held captive by ISIS in a covert operation behind the group's lines, a defence ministry statement said on Wednesday.It did not say how many women were freed, when or where.

ISIS militants are preventing civilians from leaving Ramadi ahead of an attack planned by the Iraqi army to retake the western city that the militants captured in May, an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman said today.

Four US F-16 warplanes landed in Iraq today, the first batch of a much-delayed delivery aimed at boosting the ailing Iraqi military's capacity, the defence ministry said.

A bombing by the Islamic State group in the city of Ramadi last week killed 13 Iraqi soldiers, defence ministry said today, denying reports they died in an air strike.

A Saudi military helicopter crashed during a night training exercise in the northeast of the kingdom late yesterday, killing its four-member crew, the defence ministry said.

French fighter jets have carried out a third round of air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in support of Iraqi ground forces, the defence ministry said on Monday.

Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under ISIS control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based al-Sumariya TV reported on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman.

Coalition warplanes bombed one of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's palaces which was being used as a training base by the ISIS jihadist group, Britain's Ministry of Defence said today.

Iraqi security forces freed a group of Yazidi women held captive by ISIS in a covert operation behind the group's lines, a defence ministry statement said on Wednesday.It did not say how many women were freed, when or where.

ISIS militants are preventing civilians from leaving Ramadi ahead of an attack planned by the Iraqi army to retake the western city that the militants captured in May, an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman said today.

Four US F-16 warplanes landed in Iraq today, the first batch of a much-delayed delivery aimed at boosting the ailing Iraqi military's capacity, the defence ministry said.

A bombing by the Islamic State group in the city of Ramadi last week killed 13 Iraqi soldiers, defence ministry said today, denying reports they died in an air strike.

A Saudi military helicopter crashed during a night training exercise in the northeast of the kingdom late yesterday, killing its four-member crew, the defence ministry said.

French fighter jets have carried out a third round of air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in support of Iraqi ground forces, the defence ministry said on Monday.