...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
’s continued drone attacks in Syria complicated the coalition’s mission of countering the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS).
In addition to Turkey, the Coalition statement said that Iran, the Syrian government and Russia also played a role in making the Coalition’s mission more challenging.
"Third party forces operating in Iraq and Syria—particularly Iran, Turkey, Russia, and the Syrian regime—complicated the progress of the OIR mission," the report said.
OIR is the US military’s operational name for the international military coalition’s intervention against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, which started in August 2016.
As for Turkey, it "conducted ongoing unmanned aerial system (UAS) strikes targeting SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] leaders, claiming they were affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)."
On Thursday, a
The Coalition’s statement added, "Russia continued to violate deconfliction protocols it has agreed to with the U.S. military, mostly by conducting flights over U.S. forces in Syria."
Russia recently made several "unprofessional" encounters with US drones in Syrian airspace. On July 26, the White House reported that a Russian fighter jet fired flares and hit a US drone in Syrian airspace.
"Iran-aligned militias conducted limited, ineffective attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Syria during the quarter," the report said.
The Coalition said that its forces "continued to train SDF and Internal Security Forces (Asayish) to provide security at detention facilities."
SDF-held prisons in northeast Syria house more than 10,000 ISIS fighters. As for the Hawl detention camp, it holds more than 50,000 individuals of the family members of ISIS fighters.
In Iraq, the report said, "Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Kurdish Security Forces (KSF) made no notable gains in counter-ISIS capability." However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
there was more ISF-KSF coordination than before in terms of countering ISIS.
Regarding developments against the Islamic State, the Coalition noted that "ISIS capabilities remained degraded in Iraq and Syria during the quarter. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
the group continued to pose a threat and its
Speaking about the mission’s overall goal, the Coalition said "there was limited progress toward U.S. goals to improve security, governance, promote economic growth, and address humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria."