Coalition airstrikes destroy key ISIS base in Ramadi

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Airstrikes by the international coalition formed to fight the Islamic State, or ISIS, has destroyed a strategic operating base in a stadium near the city of Ramadi, a coalition statement announced Wednesday. 

The stadium was considered as a key ISIS command and supply hub in the Ramadi area and was being used by the organization to store large amounts of explosives, weapons and ammunition, the statement said.

ISIS had used the stadium as base of operations to control Ramadi and nearby areas and to funnel supplies down the Euphrates River valley, the statement added. 

“Destroying this facility enables Iraqi security forces to be active in and around Ramadi while degrading [ISIS] command and control capability throughout the area,” Colonel Michael Indovina, coalition spokesman, said.

ISIS seized Ramadi on May 17, in what is considered one of the jihadists’ most important victories, and has held most of Anbar, the largest province in Iraq, since last year.

After ISIS captured most of Mosul province, the US-led coalition was established to fight ISIS by targeting its bases in Iraq and Syria.