45,000 ISIL fighters estimated killed in past two years: U.S. general

8/11/2016 3:26:19 AM

(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))

WASHINGTON, 10th August 2016 (WAM) --- The top U.S. commander for the fight against ISIL today estimated that in the past 11 months, 25,000 enemy fighters have been killed.

"We estimate that over the past 11 months, we've killed about 25,000 enemy fighters. When you add that to the 20,000 estimated killed (previously), that's 45,000 enemy fighters taken off the battlefield," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, who directs the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Counter ISIL in Iraq and Syria, was quoted by a report posted on the website of the U.S. Department of Defense as saying.

He was speaking to reporters during his final Pentagon press briefing via Skype from Baghdad, Iraq.

MacFarland shared his counter-ISIL campaign observations from the past 11 months while he was commander of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR), the joint task force established by the international coalition against the terror group.F "The number of fighters on the front line has diminished. They've diminished not only in quantity but also in quality -- we don't see them operating nearly as effectively as they have in the past, which makes them even easier targets for us," MacFarland told Pentagon reporters

WAM/MMYS

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