Disir
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2017 — The destruction of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s physical caliphate will change the way the coalition will go after the terror group, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis told Pentagon reporters here today.
Operations against the terror group dominated the informal press gaggle with the secretary.
“We sit here today at the end of 2017, the caliphate is on the run, we’re breaking them,” he said.
Some ISIS terrorists escaped the encirclement of Raqqa into the Middle Euphrates River Valley. “We are in the process of crushing the life out of the caliphate there while trying to keep the innocent people safe -- which is very hard with this group,” he said.
The demarcation line between the Assad regime and its ally Russia, and the Syrian Democratic Forces and the coalition, is the middle of the river in this area. Mattis said the line has held up well, and that communications between Russian and coalition forces continue.
ISIS Fighters ‘Will Have to be Hunted Down’
The ISIS fighters that escaped into the valley “will have to be hunted down,” Mattis said.
Mattis Says Operations Against ISIS Will Change in 2018 > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Article
Good deal.
Operations against the terror group dominated the informal press gaggle with the secretary.
“We sit here today at the end of 2017, the caliphate is on the run, we’re breaking them,” he said.
Some ISIS terrorists escaped the encirclement of Raqqa into the Middle Euphrates River Valley. “We are in the process of crushing the life out of the caliphate there while trying to keep the innocent people safe -- which is very hard with this group,” he said.
The demarcation line between the Assad regime and its ally Russia, and the Syrian Democratic Forces and the coalition, is the middle of the river in this area. Mattis said the line has held up well, and that communications between Russian and coalition forces continue.
ISIS Fighters ‘Will Have to be Hunted Down’
The ISIS fighters that escaped into the valley “will have to be hunted down,” Mattis said.
Mattis Says Operations Against ISIS Will Change in 2018 > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Article
Good deal.
