Official: 10,000 IS fighters killed by U.S.-led airstrikes

BEIRUT – A U.S. official said Wednesday that more than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.

Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s figure came after a Paris conference on how to stop the extremists ended without any new strategy to halt their campaign.

Speaking Wednesday to France Inter Radio a day after the Paris conference, Blinken said the airstrikes have been effective.

“We have seen enormous losses for Daesh,” Blinken said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. “More than 10,000 since the beginning of this campaign. That will end up having an effect.”

Blinken did not offer a figure for civilian casualties.

In September, the CIA said that Islamic State group has up to 31,500 fighters. Despite that, the extremists continue to attract more recruits from around the world who come to fight with the group to expand its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Associated Press