British Army Maj. Gen. Doug Chalmers, deputy commander for strategy and sustainment in the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, recently said coalition forces' efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are unraveling the group’s “caliphate.”
“We’ve seen the tide turning on (ISIL). Not only have their advances been stopped, the terrain they have briefly controlled has been taken back by the Iraqi security forces and by Syrian opposition.”
Chalmers highlighted the ways in which the 65-country-strong coalition is supporting ground forces from Iraq and Syria, targeting ISIL's fighters, command-and-control operations, leaders, industrial base, financial systems, communication networks and its efforts to bring foreign fighters into the region.
“The recent advances that they've made in both the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys at the same time…is deeply impressive,” Chalmers said of Iraqi security forces. “Not just in fighting terms, but also in sustainment terms…The multi-ethnic components of the Syrian Democratic Forces are united against (ISIL). We've seen opposition forces in the northeast, near Mara, and in the southeast…remain focused on defeating (ISIL) and removing its influence from their homelands.”
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