WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (KUNA) -- A big spike in coalition airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq this week was to help prepare Peshmerga for operations they conducted around Mount Sinjar, which are ongoing and proven to be "promising, so far," Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday.
"So there was a spike," Kirby said during a briefing. "But that is in keeping with exactly the way we are approaching the business of airstrikes here. It is two-fold. It is to go after them (ISIL) where we know we can and we should, but also to support Iraqi security forces on the ground. So you are going to see the (airstrikes) numbers fluctuate every single day." Kirby acknowledged that "there has been an expressed interest by the government of Iraq for more activity from the air, more airstrikes.
"We are conducting airstrikes at an appropriate pace and with an appropriate sense of precision and urgency to meet the threats inside Iraq, both the threats posed by ISIL, where they are and what they are doing, and our ability to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish forces on the ground," he said. (pickup previous) rm.bs