All news

Iraq receives first Russian combat aircrafts

The aircrafts “will enhance the combat capability of the country’s Air Force”

EL KUWAIT, June 29, /ITAR-TASS/. The first batch of the Sukhoi combat aircrafts has arrived in Iraq, Iraq’s Defence Ministry reports in a statement published on Saturday.

The ministry says five Su-25 aircrafts have arrived “in Iraq’s territory in compliance with the agreement with the Russian side.” The aircrafts “will enhance the combat capability of the country’s Air Force,” the ministry said.

The disassembled combat aircrafts were delivered to Iraq on board an Antonov-124-100 of the Russian Air Force. Iraq’s Defence Ministry has published on its website a video of unloading. Iraq’s Air Force office said the aircrafts would be used “within next 3-4 days to support combat operations against ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terrorist group).”

The officer said Russian specialises who had arrived in Iraq would provide necessary technical service.

Su-25 attack aircrafts provide round the clock support for ground units, where targets are visual, they are also used for destruction of given targets in any weather conditions.

The situation in Iraq has deteriorated in early June after the Sunni militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terrorist group (ISIS) closely related to Al-Qaeda and local radical units launched an offensive in the north of the country and captured a number of settlements there.

Tags