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Al-Ahed Telegram

US Military Spent $424 Million against ’ISIL’

US Military Spent $424 Million against ’ISIL’
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The US military has spent $424 million so far in its military campaign against the "ISIL" group in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

US Military Spent $424 Million against ’ISIL’
      US Spent $424 Million against "ISIL"

The Pentagon's press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the cost has averaged about $7.6 million a day since the bombing began in Iraq on Aug. 8. President Barack Obama expanded the campaign by authorizing airstrikes in Syria in late September.

The US military also is flying large numbers of aerial refueling and surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq and Syria, and it has about 1,400 US military personnel on the ground in Iraq. There are no US troops in Syria.

The US Air Force also has flown a small number of resupply missions in Iraq and Syria.
Kirby also said that in Iraq, local security forces are beginning to make some headway against the "ISIL" forces, while in the Syrian town of Kobani the local Kurdish forces are in control of the majority of the area.

But the spokesman also said progress is slow and it is not possible to predict when a turning point will be reached.
According to the Pentagon, US warplanes have conducted more than 260 airstrikes against "ISIL" in Iraq since mid-August. Some Western states have also participated in some of the strikes in Iraq.

Since late September, the US and some of its Arab allies - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates - have been carrying out airstrikes against "ISIL" inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

Earlier this month, the US Central Command said the Pentagon had spent $62 million on Navy airstrikes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Pentagon also plans to train and arm 5,000 militants in Syria as part of the Obama administration's long-term strategy to confront "ISIL".


Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

 

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