War On ISIL:US Army Artillery,Helicopters Open Up on Militants

The US Army is becoming more active in the anti-ISIL effort Operation Inherent Resolve.On 3 June 2016,soldiers with 1st Battalion,320 Field Artillery Regiment,2nd Brigade Combat Team,101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) fired an M777 howitzer from Kara Soar Counter Fire Complex,Iraq during a night operation in support of the Iraqi Army.Such fire missions enable the Iraqi Army to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,Combined Joint Task Force-OIR said.
Kara Soar CFC was established in March 2016 and was initially manned by US Marines of Task Force Spartan,the last 170 of whom departed from the fire base for Camp Lejeune,North Carolina on 10 June 2016.They were relieved by the 101st Airborne troops.About 15 miles/24 kilometers from ISIL territory,Kara Soar in Northern Iraq is a key staging area for the Iraqi Army's mission to retake Mosul from ISIL.*
In other US Army activity in Iraq,AH-64 Apache helicopters have been used in OIR combat operations for the first time,US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters on his way to the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels,Belgium.More than one Apache was sent to assist in the effort to recapture Mosul on 3 June 2016,and one of these attack helos fired on and struck an ISIL vehicle.The Apaches have been in Iraq since early spring and are at the disposal of the Iraqi government in their campaign against the Islamist extremist militants.