The US-led Coalition efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are making a significant impact against the terrorists, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve has said.
In a live video conference from Baghdad Wednesday, Col. Steve Warren told Pentagon reporters that the operations are "hurting this enemy" and ISIL is feeling the pressure.
"We have decimated their ranks and shaken their leadership," he added.
ISIL has increased its forced conscription throughout Iraq and Syria, indicating that "voluntary recruitment is no longer sufficient to meet their needs," Warren said.
"We've hit their finances, both cash and oil. We've shrunk their so-called caliphate. We've disrupted their lines of communication," the colonel claimed.
There are increased reports of desertion among the terrorists, he said, and ISIL is executing its fighters fleeing the battlefield. According to CJTF-OIR officials, three-hundred ISIL targets were destroyed or damaged in a series of air strikes from January 26 to February 1.
In another positive development, along the Mara line, Syrian opposition forces liberated a Syrian village from ISIL on January 30 supported by devastating coalition air power, Warren said, adding that "Fighting along the Mara line continues with both forces conducting offensive operations."
The situation in Syria is a "terrible tragedy" with immense suffering among the population from the brutality of the war, according to the Pentagon spokesman.
Warren noted that the purpose of CJTF-OIR is to defeat ISIL, but the U.S. military would support humanitarian relief efforts if asked.
In the meantime, Iraqi security forces continue clearance operations in the suburbs east of Ramadi, Warren said. They are currently moving from Lake Tharthar toward Fallujah. Coalition forces have supported Iraqi forces in the lower Euphrates River valley with dozens of airstrikes over the past several days, Warren said.
Iraqi security forces repelled an ISIL attack near the al-Fatah Bridge, north of Beiji, over the weekend, killing more than a dozen militants. The Iraqi air force has been active in this area, conducting effective strikes against ISIL in the Makhoul Mountains.
Members of the Iraqi air force have been the heroes near Beiji and Tikrit, thwarting ISIL attacks in the area, Warren said.
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