US-led coalition conducted airstrikes on ISIS in Syria last week – military

The US-led coalition in Syria conducted airstrikes last week that destroyed facilities used by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), the coalition said on Tuesday. The statement came less than a week after President Donald Trump declared victory over the militant group and said he would withdraw US troops from the war-torn country. Its attacks during the week of December 16-22, including airstrikes and “coordinated fires,” had destroyed logistics facilities and staging areas used by IS, the military said. The strikes “damaged the group’s ability to finance its activities” and “removed several hundred ISIS fighters from the battlefield,” it added. “ISIS presents a very real threat to the long-term stability in this region and our mission remains the same, the enduring defeat” of the group, Reuters quoted UK Major General Christopher Ghika, the deputy commander of the coalition, as saying.