(Reuters) - U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria
have damaged or destroyed 3,222 targets since August, including 58
tanks, 184 Humvees, 673 fighting positions and 980 buildings or
barracks, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Army Colonel Steve
Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said he wasn't sure how many targets had
been damaged versus destroyed, "but I'm confident that the destruction
level is high. Our strikes are extraordinarily accurate." Release
of the target damage list came a day after U.S. defense officials
confirmed they are looking into reports of civilian casualties caused by
the strikes in Iraq and Syria and are conducting a deeper investigation of two cases involving fewer than five deaths. As
of 11 p.m. on Tuesday (0400 GMT Wednesday), U.S. and coalition air
forces had conducted a total of 1,676 air strikes against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and Syria since Aug. 8, and had used some 4,775 munitions, a Pentagon spokeswoman said. Warren
said U.S. and coalition forces had hit 3,222 targets in the air strikes
but he declined to say what percentage of Islamic State equipment was
destroyed. "In order for
us to do that we would have to release to you the exact number of tanks
we believe the enemy has, the exact number of Humvees we believe the
enemy has," he said. "We don't want our enemy to know how much we know
about them." Countries whose forces have participated in the strikes in Iraq are: Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Those participating in strikes in Syria are Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The targets damaged or destroyed included: - 58 tanks; - 184 HMMWVs, the highly mobile multi-purpose wheeled vehicles known as Humvees; - 26 armored personnel vehicles; - 303 technical vehicles; - 394 other vehicles; - 79 artillery, anti-aircraft weapons or mortars; - 41 staging areas; - 11 improvised explosive device positions; - 16 command posts; - 92 checkpoints; - 17 guard shacks; - 980 other buildings or barracks; - 673 fighting positions; - 52 bunkers; - 14 boats; - 23 stockpiles; - 259 oil infrastructure sites. No aircraft were on the list, Warren said. He
said the Humvees were U.S. vehicles supplied to the Iraqi military and
captured by militants as were some of the armored personnel vehicles. It
was unclear whether any of the tanks were U.S.-made. Warren
said some vehicles had been hit while parked, while others were struck
while engaged in combat. The boats were used by Islamic State to ferry
supplies across the Euphrates River, he said.
U.S.-led air strikes have hit 3,222 Islamic State targets: Pentagon
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