US Launches Raids On IS From Aircraft Carrier

Jets took off from the USS Harry S Truman after the aircraft carrier passed through the Suez Canal, said Navy officials.

The US has launched raids against the Islamic State group from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, the first such strikes since the Iraq War began in 2003.

The jets took off from the USS Harry S Truman after the aircraft carrier passed through the Suez Canal, said a senior US Navy official.

The Truman has been working with French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the US-led fight against IS, which began in summer 2014.

The US aircraft carrier has been one of the main launchpads for allied strikes against IS from the Gulf, where the Truman has been based since December.

In a statement the Navy's Sixth Fleet said: "The Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group conducted combat sorties from the Mediterranean in support of Operation Inherent Resolve over Syria and Iraq June 3, 2016."

Fifth fleet commander Kevin Donegan said the Truman's strike group had "brought enormous pressure to bear against Daesh", another name for IS, while operating in the Middle East.

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