The Pentagon said Wednesday that the first phase of military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is completed, and that the U.S.-led coalition is now focused on “dismantling” the militant group.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said coalition forces have stopped the Islamic State from advancing, and have degraded the extremists’ military capabilities.
“We are in the second phase of this operation now, and our task is to dismantle the enemy, fragment them in Iraq and Syria,” Col. Warren said. “Our enemy has been weakened and we are now working to fracture him.”
President Obama is meeting later Wednesday with his National Security Council at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia to get an update on the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS. He began holding the discussions at various agencies after the terrorist group killed scores of people in Paris and inspired another deadly attack in California late last year.
The U.S. began launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in August 2014. Col. Warren said the coalition has “achieved much” in the 20 months since then.
“A year-and-a-half ago, we saw images of ISIL convoys moving freely into Mosul and throughout Iraq. Those days are gone,” he said. “ISIL has lost more than 40 percent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and in Syria. While ISIL can still put together some complex attacks, they have not been able to take hold of any key terrain for almost a year now. We’ve struck leaders, supply lines, fighters, industrial base and funding sources in both Iraq and Syria.”
Iraqi forces supported by U.S. military advisers are pushing to liberate the city of Mosul, which has been held by the militants for two years. In Syria, the U.S. is supporting local ground forces to pressure and isolate the terrorist group’s base in Raqqa.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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