The USAF has utterly destroyed the Ashur Hotel in Mosul, which was being used by ISIS as a HQ. The B-52 used in the strike used heavy BLU-118 "bunker buster" bombs to destroy the hotel. The hotel was once the best hotel in Mosul, but it had been taken over by ISIS and used as their main headquarters. At the time of the strike the hotel was on the front lines and would have been difficult to neutralize using conventional forces. After the airstrike, Iraqi forces were able to take back the ruins of the hotel though it remains near the front lines.
My Comment:
Saw this video and I thought I should share it. It just goes to show how powerful the United States weapons can actually be. It's a short clip, in black and white, but the hotel is utterly destroyed. Any ISIS fighters that happened to be in the hotel were pretty much screwed.
There didn't seem to be a whole lot of collateral damage from this strike either, which is surprising considering how powerful these weapons are. The buildings across the street looked pretty much untouched. Well as untouched as buildings can be in Mosul, which has been the site of several massive battles and bombing campaigns.
I wonder if ISIS was actually hurt by this strike. Given how close the Ashur hotel was to the front lines I doubt that many ISIS commanders were still there. Even though they might not have expected to be bombed to oblivion, having your HQ right on the front lines is probably a bad idea. I have little doubt that there were troops stationed at the hotel though and I am guessing that almost everyone there was dead.
A B-52 refueling. USAF/The Drive.
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