US Coalition Hits ISIS Over 14,000 Times in Iraq: Spokesman

Smoke plumes rise after an airstrike in west Mosul on March 10, 2017 as Iraqi forces advance in the city during the ongoing battle to seize it from the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) group. / AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP)

A U.S.-led coalition carried out more than 14,100 military strikes against the ISIS in Iraq since the alliance was established in mid-2014, according to a coalition official.

“From September 2014 to December 2017, the alliance carried out 14,104 strikes on Daesh targets in Iraq,” coalition spokesman Thomas Phil said on Friday.

This figure, according to Phil, includes airstrikes carried out by coalition warplanes, in addition to attacks by helicopter gunships, drones and ground artillery.

He went on to assert that, over the same period, the terrorist group’s total presence in Iraq had shrunken from between 3,500 and 4,500 fighters to less than 1,000.

In mid-2014, ISIS overran roughly one third of Iraq following the withdrawal of Iraqi forces. Over the last year, however, the Iraqi military -- backed by the U.S.-led coalition -- has retaken almost all of this territory

Early this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the country had been “entirely purged” of ISIS terrorists.

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This article has been adapted from its original source.