WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Previously, Defense Department officials had only released limited outline information on the financial costs of military operations against the Islamic State, the newspaper noted.
The new report revealed that before US airstrikes and other activities against the Islamic State expanded to Syria in mid-September 2014, their average daily cost came to $5.6 million.
“In releasing the new numbers, the Pentagon for the first time offered a cost breakdown, shedding new light on where the money is going,” The Hill reported on Thursday after the report was released.
However, from mid-September 2014 through to mid-May 2015, the daily cost of the military operations soared to $9.7 million, The Hill cited the report as revealing.
More than half the cost of the military operations — 55 percent — has gone on airstrikes against the Islamic State forces, the new report reveals.
Slightly less than 25 percent of these military expenditures has gone on weapons, and the remaining financed logistical and other operations, the Defense Department said.
The cost of all military operations against the Islamic State reached $1 billion in December 2014, and within less than four months had reached $2 billion by April 2015, according to the report.
