U.S. Official Says 10K Islamic State Militants Killed During U.S. Airstrikes
A U.S. official announced this week that over 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed since the U.S. launched its airstrike campaign against the terror group in Syria and Iraq nine months ago.
Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said at a recent press conference that the United States' coalition to fight the terror group has made significant gains by killing 10,000 militants.
"We have seen enormous losses for Daesh," Blinken said Wednesday. "More than 10,000 since the beginning of this campaign. That will end up having an effect."
Blinken added to France Inter radio that although the terrorist group has suffered "a lot of losses" in the past nine months, it has the ability to make a comeback against the anti-terror initiative.
"There has been important progress, but equally Daesh remains very resilient and capable of taking the initiative," the deputy secretary of state added.
News of progress made by the U.S. against the Islamic State comes shortly after President Barack Obama denied that the U.S. was "losing" its fight against the terror group.
"I don't think we're losing," the president told The Atlantic in a recent interview, shortly after the Islamic State successfully overtook the city of Ramadi.
"There's no doubt there was a tactical setback, although Ramadi had been vulnerable for a very long time, primarily because these are not Iraqi security forces that we have trained or reinforced. They have been there essentially for a year without sufficient reinforcements, and the number of ISIL [ISIS] that have come into the city now are relatively small compared to what happened in [the Iraqi city of] Mosul," the president added.
