US says 45,000 Daesh members killed ⁰

As many as 45,000 members of the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri group have been killed in the Middle East during the past two years, a senior American military official says.

US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland made the announcement during a press briefing on Wednesday, adding that the terrorist group has now become an easier target after losing thousands of its members.

“We don’t see them operating nearly as effectively as they have in the past, which makes them even easier targets for us, so as a result their attrition has accelerated here of late,” he noted.

The American commander attributed some of the success in the battle against Daesh to the US-led campaign that started in late 2014, claiming that the coalition has killed 25,000 terrorists over the past 11 months.

The general’s claim comes at a time when Washington is under fire for the high rate of civilian deaths arising from its airstrikes.

In late July, more than a dozen civilians were killed or injured after US warplanes conducted airstrikes in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo.

Presstv