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BAGHDAD, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Friday that he had ordered airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in retaliation for recent deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad.
"We are determined to chase terrorism that tries to kill our sons and citizens wherever it is located. We gave orders to the air force command to conduct airstrikes against the terrorist Daesh (IS group) in Husaybah and Albu Kamal inside Syrian territories, as they were responsible for recent terrorist bombings in Baghdad," Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement issued by his office.
"The heroes of the air forces have executed the operation of retaliation against the terrorists with great success," he said.
In a separate statement, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said F-16 jet fighters attacked IS positions near the Iraqi border towns of Husaybah and Albu Kamal inside Syria on Friday morning.
The jet fighters conducted the airstrikes after "the intelligence service tracked the perpetrators who planned and carried out the terrorist bomb attacks in Habibiyah and Baiyaa neighborhoods," the JOC statement said.
IS militants carried out massive bomb attacks in crowded commercial areas for selling cars in Habibiyah and Baiyaa on Feb. 15 and 16, leaving more than 54 civilians killed and some 100 others wounded.
The airstrikes came as the Iraqi security forces, backed by anti-IS international coalition, are continuing a major offensive to drive out IS militants from their last major stronghold in and around Mosul.
