Reuters/Hamad
I Mohammed
TA'MALAyuHilangDiDUNIA - Amerika Syarikat tentera berkata ia melancarkan
serangan udara di sekitar Empangan Haditha Iraq utk mengelakkan kawasan itu
daripada ditang-kap oleh militan Negara Islam.
Empangan di Wilayah Anbar Iraq barat ini, sumber
utama air dan kuasa elektrik, kini mengawal rakyat Iraq, tetapi terdapat
percubaan oleh militan mengambil alih kemudahan itu penting.
Ahad serangan udara di kawasan sekitar
empangan telah dijalankan atas per-mintaan kerajaan Iraq, menurut Setiausaha
Pertahanan Amerika Syarikat Chuck Hagel, yang kini dalam perjalanan ke ibu Georgia, Tbilisi.
"Jika empangan yang akan jatuh ke dalam
tangan (Islamic State) Isil atau jika empangan yang akan dimusnahkan, kerosakan
yang yang akan menyebabkan akan menjadi sangat penting dan ia akan meletakkan
risiko besar, tambahan dan besar ke dalam campuran di Iraq," Hagel kepada pemberita.
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Empangan Haditha adalah kedua terbesar penyumbang
hidroelektrik Iraq untuk sistem kuasa negara. Sebuah stesen kuasa mengandungi
enam penjana elektrik terletak berhampiran empangan.
Pejuang Negara Islam membuat percubaan untuk
mengambil kawasan di bawah kawalan bulan lepas. Mereka dihalau balik oleh
tentera Iraq, dengan sokongan daripada puak-puak Sunni tempatan.
"Mereka (serangan udara) sangat tepat. Tiada
kerosakan cagaran . . . Jika Negara Islam tlh berjaya menguasai empangan,
banyak bidang Iraq akan tlh terancam, walaupun Baghdad," Sheik Ahmed Abu
Risha kepada Reuters.
Tentera Amerika Syarikat juga melaporkan pada hari
Ahad ia telah melancarkan serangan udara baru berhampiran Empangan Mosul, yg
terbesar di Iraq, menya-sarkan militan di kawasan itu.
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could cause 500,000 deaths in days
Negara Islam pejuang berjaya mengawal Empangan
Mosul pada awal bulan Ogos. Walau bagaimanapun, serangan Amerika Syarikat
berterusan memaksa militan keluar dari kawasan tersebut, kekalahan besar yang
pertama bagi mereka sejak Amerika Syarikat memasuki semula konflik dengan serangan
udara.
Negara Islam (IS) tidak diberikan di atas
percubaan untuk menawan semula kemudahan strategik dan Amerika Syarikat terus
menjalankan serangan udara berhampiran empangan untuk menyimpan pejuang dari
sini.
Tentera AS mengumumkan awal minggu ini bahawa ia
telah menyiapkan ‘completed’
124 serangan udara di Iraq berhampiran Empangan Mosul, memusnahkan atau
merosakkan 16 IS kenderaan.
US military launches AIRSTRIKES near IRAQ's
Haditha DAM
The United States military says it’s launched
airstrikes around Iraq's Haditha Dam to prevent the area from being captured by
Islamic State militants.
The dam in western Iraq’s Anbar Province, a major
source of water and electrical power, is currently in control of the Iraqis,
but there have been attempts by the militants to take over the vital facility.
The Sunday airstrikes on the area around the dam
were carried out at the request of the Iraqi government, according to US
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is currently on a trip to Georgia's capital,
Tbilisi.
"If
that dam would fall into ISIL's (Islamic State's) hands or if that dam would be
destroyed, the damage that that would cause would be very significant and it
would put a significant, additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq,"
Hagel told reporters.
The Haditha Dam is Iraq's second-largest
hydroelectric contributor to the country’s power system. A power station
containing six electricity generators is located near the dam.
Islamic State fighters made an attempt to take the
area under control last month. They were driven back by Iraqi forces, with support
from local Sunni tribes.
"They
(the air strikes) were very accurate. There was no collateral damage . . . If
Islamic State had gained control of the dam, many areas of Iraq would have been
seriously threatened, even Baghdad," Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha told Reuters.
The US military also reported on Sunday it had
launched new airstrikes near the Mosul Dam, the largest in Iraq, targeting
militants in the area.
The Islamic State fighters managed to take control
of the Mosul Dam in early August. However, persistent US strikes forced the
militants out of the area, the first significant defeat for them since the US
re-entered the conflict with airstrikes.
The Islamic State (IS) has not given up on
attempts to recapture the strategic facility and the US has continued to
conduct airstrikes near the dam to keep the fighters away.
The US military announced earlier this week that
it had completed its
124th airstrike in Iraq near the Mosul Dam, destroying or damaging 16 IS
vehicles.
READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/lxymud
