First batch of U.S. F-16 jet fighters lands in Iraq as offensive to free key province embarks

A first batch of F-16 jet fighters arrived in Iraq on Monday from the United States, as the country's security forces launched a major offensive to free the western province of Anbar from Islamic State (IS) militants, the government said.

A statement from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said that "four F-16 jets lave landed earlier in their air base near the town of Balad, 80 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, in Salahudin province."

The four planes are the first batch of 36 jet fighters ordered by the Iraqi government to boost the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces in their fight against the IS militants who took control of large swathes of territories in several Sunni provinces in the country.

On June 25, one Iraqi F-16 jet fighter crashed during a training mission at a U.S. air base in the U.S.

The delivery came as the Iraqi authorities announced the start of a major offensive against IS militants to free key cities and towns in Anbar province from IS militants.

Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, have been fighting for months to retake control of key cities and towns in Iraq's largest province of Anbar since the IS militants seized most of the province and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS militants.

The IS militants took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit