Airstrikes Destroy ISIL Refineries

Warplanes from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Thursday attacked the majority of the Islamic State’s oil refineries in Syria. The Pentagon said the airstrikes were part of the continuing effort to target sources of the group’s financing.

The strikes on Thursday, the third day of U.S.-led air campaign in Syria, hit 12 small refineries in the eastern Deir al-Zour and Hasakah provinces. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that the attacks had crippled the plants.

The airstrikes in Syria have so far targeted the command and control structures and the revenue sources of the Islamic State.

Top photo: UAE Air Force F-16E Block 60 (Photo: General Dynamics)

Bottom photo: Major Mariam al-Mansouri of UAE Air Force piloting an F-16E in airstrikes over Syria. Major Mansouri, 35, is UAE’s first female air force pilot. (Photo: UAE Air Force)