USA: 45,000 ISIL FIGHTERS KILLED IN IRAQ, SYRIA

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Forces battling ISIL in Iraq and Syria





Washington, August 10, 2016 – Operation Inherent Resolve’s fight against ISIL, OIR Commander, Army Lt. Gen. Sean McFarland today said the operation in Iraq has progressed so much that it his men have been able to take out an estimated 45, 000 ISIL fighters from the battlefield.

Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland who spoke via Skype in his final Pentagon press briefing from Baghdad, shared his counter-ISIL campaign observations from the past 11 months while he was commander.

MacFarland estimated that in the past 11 months, 25,000 enemy fighters have been killed, and when added to the 20,000 estimated killed prior to his arrival. That’s 45,000 enemies taken off the battlefield, he said.

According to him, there’s no question that strikes have enabled the liberation of more than 25,000 total square kilometres from [ISIL],” he said. “That’s nearly half of what the enemy once controlled in Iraq and 20 percent of what they once controlled in Syria.”

He explained that in Syria, the U.S.-led coalition has also conducted “more than 200 strikes against oil and natural gas activities of the enemy, destroying more than 640 of their tanker trucks, but more importantly, a number of critical facilities such as gas oil separation plan critical nodes, which reduce their oil revenue stream by perhaps 50 percent,” MacFarland said, noting vigorous attacks on enemy leadership, command and control and weapons manufacturing capability.

“During these operations, coalition aircraft have conducted about 50,000 sorties against [ISIL] in the past year,” he said. “During those sorties we’ve dropped more than 30,000 munitions on the enemy with approximately two-thirds of those in Iraq and about one-third in Syria. Our artillery has conducted more than 700 fire missions.”

MacFarland said the campaign to defeat ISIL was in a stalemate a year ago and some wondered if the U.S.-led coalition should take a more direct role than training, equipping, advising and assisting indigenous forces. “Others questioned whether the Kurds would cooperate with Arab forces to fight [ISIL] beyond their own traditional region,” he said.

He explained that in some ways, the progress against [ISIL] in Iraq and Syria has been remarkable.

“We modified the type and level of support we provided over the course of the past year, but we have not fundamentally altered the paradigm of train and equip, advise and assist, ” he said.

That approach, he said is paying off as ISIL is in retreat on all fronts, he said, noting, “The ISF proved that they can conduct complex and decisive operations.”

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