US-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria that took place throughout July as part of Operation Inherent Resolve continued in August, with the air campaign hitting ISIS in northern Iraq as the move toward the city of Mosul advances.
Multiple strikes during the first three days of August targeted ISIS command positions and weapons emplacements, and, as shown in the GIF below, on August 9 the US-led coalition hit an ISIS fighting position in Sultan 'Abd Allah, a village about 30 miles south of Mosul and located just north of Qayyarah, where Iraqi forces retook an airfield last month.
As US-led airstrikes have hit numerous targets near Mosul, a valuable city for ISIS, Iraqi forces have advanced in other parts of northern Iraq. Iraqi Security Forces cut "ground line of communication between the ISIS-held towns of Shirqat and Qayyarah in an operation from July 2 - 13," according to the Institute for the Study of War.
These moves have not eroded all of the terrorist group's capabilities, however, as it "nonetheless retains limited freedom of movement in both areas and will likely conduct local counterattacks to pressure its opponents," ISW noted, adding, "ISIS may also mount a resurgence in previously-cleared areas, in particular Southern Baghdad and the Southern Provinces."
A still image of an airstrike on an ISIS position near Mosul, Iraq, on August 9, 2016.
Elsewhere in Iraq, the political campaign against ISIS continued as well. The Iraqi government executed 36 men convicted of taking part in an ISIS-led massacre of about 1,700 Shia military personnel in 2014.
"It was the happiest call I have ever received," Hatam Kareem told The New York Times after learning one of the men who had killed his brother had been executed.
See the full video of the August 9 airstrike below: