Apache satt inn mot IS

Foto: BBC

Washington (CNN) -- U.S. Apache helicopters struck ISIS targets in Iraq's Anbar province over the weekend in an effort to push back ISIS forces advancing near Falluja, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The Pentagon did not specify the precise targets when it issued a news release Sunday. Four "strikes northeast of Falluja struck two mortar teams, a large ISIL unit and two small ISIL units," the release said, using another acronym for ISIS. Fixed-wing aircraft also were part of the mission. But because Iraqi forces were close to ISIS forces, the Apaches were used because they fly low and can strike with precision, the official said.

In Anbar, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Baghdad, "ISIS continues to make advances," the official said. In Falluja, "Iraqi security forces are struggling to retake territory." The official described the area as "very much contested with ISIS continuing to make gains."