“I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” Kirby said in a statement published Thursday.
Kirby underscored that the loss of “key leaders” diminishes IS ability to command and supervise current operations against Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
The US-led international coalition, formed in September, has been performing airstrikes in Syria and Iraq in an effort to eliminate IS extremists.
.@PentagonPresSec says targeted airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within ISIL http://t.co/AD9wEewALK
— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) December 18, 2014
The IS, also known as ISIL and ISIS, has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012 and has declared a caliphate on the territories it has captured across eastern Syria as well as Northern and Western Iraq. The extremist militant group has been performing public executions, beheadings and hostage-taking among other atrocities.
