BEIRUT: US-led coalition airstrikes destroyed two key bridges used by Daesh militants on Syria’s side of the border with Iraq early Friday, a monitoring group.

The coalition “destroyed two bridges between the Syrian city of Albu Kamal and the Iraqi border,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“These bridges are strategically important for Daesh’s movements between Albu Kamal and Iraq,” he said.

Daesh seized the city of Albu Kamal and the nearby border crossing in July 2014, linking the group’s territory in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor to areas it controls in Iraq’s western Anbar province. According to Abdel Rahman, the two bridges leading out of Albu Kamal — one to the east, and one to the southeast — were Daesh’s “main routes to the Iraqi border,“

“Using these bridges, it would take Daesh only a few minutes to reach the Iraqi border from Albu Kamal,” he said.

“The strikes do not cut off Daesh’s route to Iraq, but they make Daesh movements there more difficult, because it will take them longer and they will be in view (of the coalition) for a longer period of time,” he added.

The Pentagon confirmed the air raids, saying they had struck Daesh-held bridges in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province.

“Coalition forces struck multiple Daesh targets in the vicinity of the eastern Syria border to reduce the freedom of movement of Daesh,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, chief of staff of the US-led coalition.

“These strikes will have a profound impact on the ability of Daesh in Syria to affect operations in Iraq, particularly in Ramadi,” capital of Anbar province, Killea said.