The US-led coalition against the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) conducted 469 strikes in Syria and nine in Iraq during the two-week period from December 16 to December 29, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve said in a press release on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th January, 2019) The US-led coalition against the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) conducted 469 strikes in Syria and nine in Iraq during the two-week period from December 16 to December 29, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve said in a press release on Friday."In Syria, 469 strikes engaged 666 ISIS [Islamic State] tactical units, and destroyed 291 fighting positions, 153 staging areas, 67 supply routes, 27 command and control nodes, 27 petroleum oil lubricant storage facilities, 25 vehicles, 14 tunnels, 14 weapons cache, 13 improvised explosive device facilities, seven heavy weapons systems," the release said. "In Iraq, nine strikes engaged one ISIS tactical units, and destroyed eight caves and five buildings."
The release contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing, or remotely piloted aircraft, rocket propelled artillery and ground-based tactical artillery, the release said.
In addition, the coalition detected 222 strikes from "other actors" that crossed the Euphrates River Valley.
The strikes were conducted as the US prepared to withdraw American ground forces from Syria on orders from President Donald Trump, who said the Islamic State had been defeated.
The US-led international coalition has conducted strikes in Syria without the consent of the government in Damascus, while Baghdad has given its consent for operations on Iraqi territory.
