The US Air Force has started using its hulking B-52 bombers against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but the enormous aircraft are only

conducting precision strikes, a military spokesman said today.

The B-52 Stratofortress -- originally designed in the 1950s -- became a symbol of US might during the Cold War and the plane was used to conduct carpet bombing in Vietnam. 

Colonel Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman, said a B-52 was sent Monday to destroy an IS weapons storage facility in the Iraqi town of Qayyarah, about 35 miles (60 kilometers) south of Mosul.

He said use of B-52s would not lead to a greater risk of civilian casualties because the aircraft are only being armed with guided bombs.