US Airstrike Targets ISIS Fighters Near Baghdad

Airstrike was in a new area of operations for U.S. fighter aircraft.

ByABC News
September 15, 2014, 7:04 PM
An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower  in the Persian Gulf in this March 27, 2007 file photo.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf in this March 27, 2007 file photo.
Travis Alston/U.S. Navy/Getty Images

— -- There was a U.S. airstrike southwest of Baghdad today, a new area of operations for U.S. fighter aircraft, ABC News has learned.

But this isn't an indicator of expanded airstrikes in Iraq, a U.S. official told ABC News.

A request was received from the Iraqis to provide air support for an Iraqi unit that was engaged in a firefight with fighters with the Islamic militant group ISIS, the official said.

An aircraft was re-directed and conducted a strike to support the Iraqi ground troops, the official said.

The U.S. Central Command, or CentComm, is expected to detail the attack later today.

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