Reuters reports: The US and its allies conducted 24 air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq on Thursday, the US military said on Friday.

It said in a statement the strikes targeted Isis positions in seven areas. Four strikes near the city of Ramadi, the centre of which fell to Iraqi forces this week, hit a large tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device facility, five militant fighting positions and two heavy machine guns.

Near Tal Afar, 11 strikes destroyed nine bunkers, five culverts and four bridges used by the militants. Near Mosul, three strikes struck a tactical unit and destroyed two heavy machine guns, six fighting positions, a weapons cache and a trench.

In Ramadi, terrified families waved white flags as they emerged from homes reduced to rubble. Government troops were still battling Isis fighters holed up on Friday, five days after the army recaptured the city centre. [Continue reading…]