As Iraqi forces backed by US support engage Isis across multiple battlefronts in Iraq, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter announced that American Apache helicopter gunships had been used in combat for the first time since President Barack Obama authorised their use in April.
Speaking to reporters during a flight to a meeting of Nato ministers in Brussels, Carter declined to go into details about the operation but said the strikes were in support of Iraqi forces battling Isis (Islamic State) outside Mosul.
Several Apaches were involved in the attack, but only one fired, striking a vehicle, according to a senior defence official. The AH-64 Apache is an Army helicopter and often flies in pairs.
The use of the Apaches comes as Iraqi forces are making modest gains into Fallujah, one of the first major urban areas seized by Isis two years ago. Around Mosul, Iraqi forces are slowly putting pressure on the city from the south and northeast.
Armed with a 30mm cannon, 7cm rockets and the ability to carry a payload of Hellfire missiles, the Apache is an aircraft well suited to provide close air support for troops on the ground. Used extensively in Iraq prior to the US withdrawal in 2011 and the rise of Isis, Apache gunships were last used in the country in 2014 to help beleaguered Kurdish units fighting for the Mosul Dam.