US has launched 2,320 airstrikes against ISIL: Pentagon
The US military has carried out 2,320 airstrikes against the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and Syria since August, hitting about 4,250 targets at a cost of $1.83 billion, according to the US Defense Department.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that strikes by US forces had targeted tanks, oil infrastructure and fighting positions. The tally covered airstrikes conducted between August 8, 2014, and March 18, 2015.
As of March 12, the Pentagon had spent about $1.83 billion on the strikes, an average of about $8.5 million daily, according to Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Steve Warren.
US airstrikes amounted to about 80 percent of the total number carried out by a US-led coalition fighting ISIL. Overall, the multinational coalition has conducted 2,893 airstrikes, with 1,631 in Iraq and 1,262 in Syria, hitting 5,314 targets.
An airstrike can involve multiple weapons against multiple targets, Warren said.
The strikes targeted 408 ISIL staging areas, 1,003 fighting positions and 87 oil collection points, Warren said. They also destroyed 73 tanks and 282 US-made Humvee vehicles that had been taken from Iraqi forces.
In the latest air operation carried out on Thursday, the US and its coalition allies staged eight airstrikes against ISIL in Syria and Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing the operations said in a statement Friday.
One strike hit near the key Syrian border town of Kobani, the task force said. Seven other strikes were conducted in Iraq, the statement said.
Nevertheless, the US-led coalition has done little to stop the ISIL's advances in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Some analysts have criticized the aerial military campaign in Syria, saying the strikes are meant to destroy the Arab country's infrastructure and remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.
AHT/HRJ
Senior US delegation in Syria for talks with HTS ‘terrorists’
US pushes new strike group into region after aircraft carrier flees Yemen’s firepower
US disregards Spain’s arms embargo on shipments destined for Israel
Spain jurists demand ties with Israel ties be cut
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Iran honors top Science Olympiad medalists
VIDEO | Austrians arrested at Gaza protest in Vienna
10 killed in bus crash in western Iran
VIDEO | One-man-band journalism with Civili
5 Israeli forces killed as Palestinian fighters face up to regime’s war machine
VIDEO | An insider's view of the country: Persian Tahini, Royan in Mazandaran
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
