Washington (CNN) In an extremely unusual airstrike, the
U.S. dropped bombs Sunday in central Mosul, Iraq, destroying a building
containing huge amounts of cash ISIS was using to pay its troops and for
ongoing operations, two U.S. defense officials told CNN.
The officials could not say exactly how much money was there
or in what currency, but one described it as "millions."
Two 2,000-pound bombs destroyed the site quickly. But the
longstanding impact may be even more significant. The officials said the U.S.
plans to strike more financial targets like this one to take away ISIS's
ability to function as a state-like entity.
This is a similar expansion to the target list as happened
several weeks ago, when U.S. warplanes began hitting ISIS oil trucks.
The U.S. considers the Mosul strike extremely sensitive,
as the building is in an area where civilians are also located, and there was a
significant risk of civilian casualties.
Officials would not say how the U.S. learned of the
location. But after getting intelligence about the so-called "cash
collection and distribution point," U.S. aircraft and drones watched the
site for days trying to determine when the fewest number of civilians would be
in the area.
Because civilians were nearby during the daylight hours,
and ISIS personnel were working there at night, the decision was made to strike
at dawn on Sunday.
U.S. commanders had been willing to consider up to 50
civilian casualties from the airstrike due to the importance of the target. But
the initial post-attack assessment indicated that perhaps five to seven people
were killed.
In recent weeks, the U.S. has said it will assess all
targets on a case-by-case basis and may be more willing to tolerate civilians
casualties for more significant targets.
