Pentagon: Daesh Lost Half of Area Claimed in Iraq

Local Editor

The terrorist Daesh [Arabic Acronym for "ISIS"/ "ISIL" terrorist group] continued losing control over territory across Iraq and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday, including almost half of what it had once held in Iraq.

The War Department had previously estimated that the Daesh militants had lost control of about 40 percent of the territory they claimed in Iraq and about 10 percent of the land they held in Syria.

Those tallies had gone up in recent weeks, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

"The number right now in Iraq is about 45 percent of the territory they once held has been recovered," Cook said.

"The number in Syria is anywhere between 16 to 20 percent."

Since August 2014, the United States has led an international coalition fighting back against the Daesh group, using a combination of airstrikes and training and equipping local partners.

Daesh terrorists have lost control of Ramadi and Heet in Iraq, but still control other important cities including Mosul and Fallujah.

In Syria, the group maintains control of Raqqa, the capital of their so-called ‘caliphate'.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team