Kurdish peshmerga forces and Iraqi government troops have retaken 700 square kilometres of ground mostly in northern Iraq, but the IS group still holds 55,000 square kilometres, spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
That amounts to roughly one per cent of IS-held territory changing hands since the US launched air raids in Iraq on Aug 8.
Kirby acknowledged that not much ground had been gained back so far but said that the air strikes had halted the momentum of the militants and bought time for the training of Baghdad government forces.
"I think we all recognise that it's a small percentage of the total right now. But we're only six, seven months into this thing, too," he said.
The US military has made clear the campaign against IS "is going to take time, to uproot these guys and to really get at them," he said.
The Pentagon provided the figures after announcing recently that Iraqi and Kurdish troops had regained 700 square kilometres, without explaining what percentage that represented of all territory held by the IS militants.
By comparison, the Iraqi government held about 77,000 square kilometres and the Kurdish forces controlled roughly 56,000 square kilometres, he said. Those numbers did not represent the entire territory of Iraq, but only populated, "relevant" areas, according to Kirby.
US commanders have said that the Iraqi army needed to be reorganised and armed before staging a major counter-offensive to roll back the IS from large swathes of territory it seized last year.
The officer overseeing the US-led campaign against the IS group, General Lloyd Austin, head of Central Command, told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Iraqi forces would be ready to launch a counter-offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul by the summer.
Since Aug 8, there have been nearly 2,000 air strikes in the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, with American warplanes carrying out more than 1,600 of those raids, defence officials said.
- AFP/xq
channelnewsasia.com
24/1/15
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Iraq's premier expressed confidence Friday that the country's struggling army is capable of retaking the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group...
ReplyDeleteThe chief problem, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a gathering of political and economic leaders in Davos, is that Iraqi forces in the area are currently split and need to join up.
"That's why we are fighting now to make sure that that road link is connected and open for our forces to move forward," he said.
"We need to have a liaison between the rest of the Iraqi forces and (Kurdish) peshmerga and the coalition partners, and it can be done," said Abadi, claiming that IS fighters' morale was running low.
"In some instances the (IS) fighters just flee, they don't fight," he said.
Asked by a moderator at the Davos event to confirm reports that half of the IS leadership have been eliminated, Abadi said: "Yes we have seen that."................AFP......http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121143.aspx
23/1/15
Mosul airstrikes are start of new effort against Islamic State, U.S. officials say...
ReplyDeleteAn uptick in airstrikes in northern Iraq this past week marks the beginning of a broader effort to disrupt Islamic State supply lines ahead of an expected operation later this year to take back the city from militants, U.S. military officials said Friday.
Airstrikes in dozens of locations
Coalition airstrikes have pounded at least two dozen locations around Mosul, destroying dozens of vehicles, buildings, fighting positions and insurgent units.
The airstrikes, said one senior military official, are the start of a new phase, and military leaders are watching to see how Islamic State militants respond as their supply and communications lines dry up. The official was not authorized to discuss the operations publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, at the Pentagon Friday Rear Adm. John Kirby said U.S. efforts to train Iraqi forces and moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants are moving forward, even as insurgents still control about 55,000 sq. kilometres of Iraq............http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/mosul-airstrikes-are-start-of-new-effort-against-islamic-state-u-s-officials-say-1.2203695#ixzz3Pj5Ylqj5
23/1/15
Le groupe EI n'a perdu que très peu de terrain en Irak (Pentagone) ...
ReplyDeleteLe groupe Etat Islamique (EI) n'a pour l'instant perdu que 700 km2 de territoire en Irak, soit seulement 1% des 55.000 km2 conquis en 2014, selon les chiffres du Pentagone.
"C'est un petit pourcentage" a reconnu vendredi le contre-amiral Kirby, le porte-parole du Pentagone, rapporte l'AFP. Mais ces kilomètres carrés, reconquis pour l'essentiel par les forces kurdes dans le nord de l'Irak, sont "des endroits qui comptent pour l'EI, des villes, des zones peuplées", a-t-il indiqué.
Le groupe EI est désormais "beaucoup plus sur la défensive", a-t-il assuré. "Nous ne les voyons plus essayer de conquérir de nouveaux territoire", mais "protéger leurs voies de communication", a-t-il expliqué.
L'EI désormais "recrute des enfants pour combattre ou mener des attaques suicide, ce qui pourrait signifier qu'ils ont des problèmes d'effectif".
Mais "malgré ces signes de progrès", "nous restons conscients que l'EI reste une force puissante en Irak et en Syrie", a déclaré le porte-parole....................Lire la suite: http://french.ruvr.ru/news/2015_01_24/Le-groupe-EI-na-perdu-que-tres-peu-de-terrain-en-Irak-Pentagone-3736/
24/1/15
The Pentagon confirmed Friday that it has begun training 3,600 Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but has yet to begin recruiting and actively vetting their Syrian counterparts...
ReplyDeleteIn Iraq, the U.S. and coalition partners have begun training forces at four sites across the country, including al-Assad, Camp Taji in Baghdad Governorate, Bismaya and Erbil.
The Erbil site became active Friday, and is currently training roughly 100 peshmerga forces.
“As of today all four of them now have trainees, and training is ongoing at all four,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.
In addition to the 100 forces being training at the Erbil site, 600 are training at al-Assad, 1,600 at Camp Taji, and 1,300 at Bismaya.
ISIL is currently assessed to have between 20,000 and 30,000 fighters in its ranks, Kirby said, adding that the range varies because ISIL’s ranks are constantly fluctuating..................http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/455091--us-training-3-600-in-iraq-but-syrian-forces-need-more-time
24/1/15