Nature Of Airstrikes In Iraq And Syria "Shifted"

The spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve says the nature of airstrikes being carried out in Syria and Iraq has shifted.

Colonel Ryan Dillion said this morning that while around 1500 airstrikes were carried out in Iraq and Syria in September, that number shrunk to below 300 in January.

The majority of airstrikes will now focus on Syria, as the Iraqi Air Force is now capable of conducting many of its own.

While in the last week the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have back-cleared more than 100 square kilometres of ground, Colonel Dillion said the fight against so-called Islamic State remains.

Terrorists are being targeted in a number of areas, including along the Euphrates River and the Iraq border.

But Colonel Dillon warned that recent conflict in other areas of Syria is pulling forces away.

He made it clear that Operation Inherent Resolve supports only ‘military efforts to defeat Daesh’, and urged all parties in the region to maintain the same focus.

Colonel Dillon praised the ‘vital’ role the Royal Air Force has played in the fight in both countries, saying it has been incredibly successful up to this point.

In the last two years, 200 high-value IS targets have been killed, and leaders and high profile figures within the terrorist group continue to be targeted.

There have been reports that IS leader Abu Bakr a-Baghdadi was injured in an airstrike last year.

This morning, Colonel Dillion said that the task force will assume al-Baghdadi is still alive until there is ‘concrete evidence’ to the contrary.

There were, however, other milestone announcements.

Dozens of containers called ‘Police Presence in a Box’ have been distributed in Iraq, containing many of the necessary supplies to get police stations up and running in communities.

Similar equipment and training is being delivered to Iraqi border forces to help prevent the movement of terrorists in and out of Iraq.

25 countries have also committed more than $785m to projects helping to rebuild communities and UN projects to support stabilisation.

More than 1900 projects in 25 liberated areas have been started, helping to facilitate the return of around 3.3m displaced Iraqis.