In A First Since 2003, U.S. Aircraft Carrier Starts Striking From The Mediterranean
Source: Washington Post
In a sign that the United States is ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic State, the USS Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, began launching sorties from the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, according to an announcement by the Navy.
It is the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier has struck targets in the Middle East from the Mediterranean since the outbreak of the Iraq war in 2003. It is unclear if the targets were in Iraq or Syria.
According to the Navy, the Truman passed through the Suez Canal on June 2.
“While the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is in the 6th Fleet area of operations, they continue to project power ashore against terrorists and violent extremists,” said Vice Adm. James Foggo III, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, in a statement.
The Truman and its complement of ships, known as a carrier strike group, arrived in the Persian Gulf at the end of 2015 and immediately began striking in Iraq and Syria alongside its French counterparts launched from the carrier the Charles de Gaulle. Recently, the Truman strike group had been supporting a limited U.S. intervention in Yemen to support efforts to wrest key coastal cities from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group’s Yemen affiliate.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/03/as-pressure-mounts-on-the-islamic-states-capital-u-s-aircraft-carrier-starts-striking-from-the-mediterranean/
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