US Delivers Four F-16 Fighters To Iraq

Iraq has received four F-16 fighter aircrafts from US Monday.

The Iraqi ministry announced the arrival of the fighter jets at Balad air base, AFP reported.

Four US F-16 warplanes landed in Iraq Monday, the first batch of a much-delayed delivery aimed at boosting the ailing Iraqi military's capacity, the defense ministry said.

Brett McGurk, US President Barack Obama's deputy envoy for the international coalition against ISIS, also confirmed the jets had arrived.

"After years of preparation & training in the US, Iraqi pilots today landed the 1st squadron of Iraqi F16s in Iraq," he said on social media.

The delivery had most recently been delayed over security concerns at Balad, which lies around 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Baghdad.

ISIS fighters were still battling government forces not far from Balad earlier this year, which was deemed to make it unsafe for the US contractors hired to maintain the jets.