Jugger
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Islamic State 'has lost 50,000 fighters' over two years - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38252092
At least 50,000 militants from so-called Islamic State have been killed since the US-led coalition started fighting in Iraq and Syria two years ago, a US military official has said.
The official on Thursday said that coalition air strikes could be intensified in places likeMosul, which Iraqi troops are now battling to recapture, but that had to be offset against the risk of civilian casualties.
But in August, Lt Gen Sean MacFarland was quoted by the AP news agency as saying that about 45,000 enemy combatants had been killed.
IS has lost a lot of ground since it reached the high tide of its expansion in 2014, and isnow under fire from Russian, Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces, as well as US andBritish air power.
It is now entrenched in Mosul and Raqqa andthe Sunni Arab tribal heartland of the Euphrates river valley, which stretches from eastern Syria to western Iraq.
At least 50,000 militants from so-called Islamic State have been killed since the US-led coalition started fighting in Iraq and Syria two years ago, a US military official has said.
The official on Thursday said that coalition air strikes could be intensified in places likeMosul, which Iraqi troops are now battling to recapture, but that had to be offset against the risk of civilian casualties.
But in August, Lt Gen Sean MacFarland was quoted by the AP news agency as saying that about 45,000 enemy combatants had been killed.
IS has lost a lot of ground since it reached the high tide of its expansion in 2014, and isnow under fire from Russian, Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces, as well as US andBritish air power.
It is now entrenched in Mosul and Raqqa andthe Sunni Arab tribal heartland of the Euphrates river valley, which stretches from eastern Syria to western Iraq.