The US-led coalition, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), says it was forced to strike a hospital in Hajin, Syria because it was being used by Islamic State fighters. US-backed forces have been battling the Islamic State for control of Hajin for weeks.
The US-led coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) counterattacked the Islamic State in eastern Syria yesterday. The jihadists launched a large-scale offensive in Deir Ezzor province on Nov. 23, assaulting SDF positions along two axes.
The majority of coalition strikes over the past three months have been concentrated in Abu Kamal, a critical border crossing on the southern border between Iraq and Syria.
The US-led coalition said in a statement that “much work remains to defeat” Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s organization in Iraq and Syria. The statement is at odds with the White House’s view that ISIS has been “almost completely destroyed.”
The US-led coalition announced that three Islamic State figures were killed in airstrikes in Mayadin, Syria between Sept. 12 and 14. All three worked for the so-called caliphate’s drone program. The US has carried out a targeted air campaign against the group’s personnel in or near Mayadin since earlier this year.