"We have managed, thanks to the great work our folks are doing out there, to target and capture and detain some of his closest associates" per @brett_mcgurk on ISIS leader Baghdadi "If he's still with us, I don't think it will be for too much longer"
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, "He is in deep, deep hiding at best" per @StateDept's @brett_mcgurk "There have been times we thought he was no longer around and he would issue an audio tape, so it's hard to say" if he's alive "Know for sure, he was in very very deep hiding"
"Ballpark we're talking a period of months" to defeat ISIS in Hajin stronghold, per @brett_mcgurk
"There is a significant concentration of the most hardened ISIS fighters in that little splotch of territory" @brett_mcgurk says of Hajin Syria "A couple of thousand hardened fighters remain in that area"
"I just try to stay away from numbers" @StateDept's @brett_mcgurk says when asked about how ISIS fighters are left "The numbers have been all over the place.It's not numbers. It's capabilities," which he says are "significantly degraded"
"I think it's fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring" per @brett_mcgurk re Syria
"Areas we have cleared of ISIS, they have not returned to claim physical space" per @brett_mcgurk "There are clandestine cells. No one is saying they are going to disappear. Nobody is that naive"
"You have to make sure the internal security forces are in place to ensure that those gains, security gains are enduring" per @brett_mcgurk when asked how long coalition will stay in Syria "So that will take some time"
"The military objective is the enduring defeat of ISIS" per @brett_mcgurk "And if we've learned one thing over the years, the enduring defeat of a group like ISIS means you can't just defeat their physical space and then leave"
"It's going to take time but it will get done. It's a very difficult campaign" @brett_mcgurk says of effort to oust ISIS from its last Syria stronghold
11 month agoDepartment of State:Special Presidential Envoy for the Global @Coalition to Defeat ISIS @Brett_McGurk provides an update on the campaign to defeat ISIS.
"We got it to a point where almost every ISIS fighter is wearing a suicide bomb, a suicide vest, the extent of IED emplacements, it's very very difficult fighting, so it's taking some time" per @brett_mcgurk Adds almost 1400 civilians have fled Hajin in last week or so
"We're down to the last 1% in the conventional military fight" @brett_mcgurk says of ISIS in Syria "We are preparing ourselves for the longer term and we feel pretty confident those pieces are getting into place"
"We're at a point in the campaign where we're really looking ahead to make sure we can endure, sustain all these gains" per @brett_mcgurk "The big focus of that is stabilization.this will really take a period of years" Notes 4 million Iraq is have returned to their homes
US-backed Syria n Democratic Forces "have pushed into the town of Hajin" - the last ISIS stronghold in Syria - in the past 48 hours, per @StateDept's @brett_mcgurk, adding "The end of ISIS will be a much more long term endeavor.No on is declaring mission accomplished."
Blast hits Khanaqin, northern Diyala province. 2 policemen killed and 4 wounded.
Iraq federal police out of Kirkuk conducting "large scale clearance" ops in Hawijah area "targeting ISIS fighters and senior leaders hiding in the mountainous terrain", per Col Byrom
11 month agoIraqi, French and U.S. 3d Cavalry Regiment artillery units on Firebase Saham conducted strikes to stop ISIS fleeing Syria into Iraq.
11 month agoIraqi artillery units worked side-by-side with 3d Cavalry Regiment Troopers to conduct fire missions against ISIS.
Iraq's air force announced their fighter jets destroyed two ISIS targets in Syria, where a total of 44 militants were present
Arrested four prisoners in Teixeiro prison accused of financing jihadist terrorism, indoctrination and recruitment. Among them a drug trafficker.
Baghuz Tahtani is controlled by SDF.
11 month agoA Daesh tunnel in the Hajin
11 month agoIraqi federal police said they have found a secret tunnel used by ISIS militants in Kirkuk province containg weapons and explosives.
Iraqi army forces killed two suspected ISIS militants while attempting to plant roadside bombs in Badosh area west of Mosul late on Monday.
Germany provides additional 22 million for post-ISIS stabilization in Iraq
Former Iraq PM Abadi on @AlHadath: Most of the intelligence we received on ISIS, especially in Mosul, came from civilians.
11 month agoIt's propaganda
This recent video from IS near one of their last strongholds of Hajin, eastern Syria. Video presumably shows IS attack on SDF forces. Even IS fighter who misses leg joins in attack.
11 month agoOIR Spokesman: An ISIS fighter caught on video 9 Dec. using a window from a hospital in Hajin to fire at Coalition fighters. SDF forces took full control of the hospital the next day.
Some recording of coalition averaging at least 5 airstrikes an hour around Al-Bukhater, Abu-Hassan, Hajin and other surrounding villages
Egypt- ISIS claim sniper attack targeting a soldier at a checkpoint near al-Arish, North Sinai
Confirmed SDF completely controls Jabal Baghuz and control is constant.
11 month agoIt's propaganda
ISIS Wilayat Barakah (north of the Euphrates) has released "Assaults of the Muwahhidin 3", a nearly half-hour-long propaganda video depicting recent developments in the fight with the SDF in the Hajin pocket.
11 month agoSDF fully captured Baghuz Tahtani area
SDF is attacking the Market and 20th street in Hajin town
Two members of the Iraqi Tribal Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Ashairi) were killed in a roadside bomb explosion on Monday southeast of Mosul.
11 month agoIntensive aerial bombardment of the International Coalition on the ISIS points in Hajin
11 month agoUS troops reinforcement going to Hajin
ISIS claims targeted assassination of a Somali intelligence member in Afgooye town
Egypt- ISIS claim targeting a military bulldozer with IED near al-Arish Airport, North Sinai
11 month agoU.S. Central Command:U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons pull away after being refueled by a 28th Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker in support of @CJTFOIR, Nov. 29.
Lebanese Interior Minister: Security forces foiled terrorist attacks that would target places of worship and military forces
11 month agoHajin hospital under control of SDF
SDF has captured Hajin Hospital from ISIS
Two SDF fighters were killed and two others wounded by a mortar shell when a mortar shell landed in the Hawamah area of a Hajin town east of Deir al-Zour.
4 SDF fighters were killed by unknown gunmen in Theban, Deir Ez-Zor Governorate
