A war for oil, as only the US can prosecute it..
[ARA News] ERBIL – The US-led coalition destroyed more than 110 oil tanker trucks for the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group in one week, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, head of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said on Tuesday.
“Last week alone, we destroyed more than 110 [ISIS] oil tanker trucks,” the coalition general said. “In September, coalition aircraft also destroyed 42 tanker trucks in the vicinity of Raqqa [ISIS de facto capital].”
“This war requires increased persistence and ability to remain vigilant in efforts to capitalize on Daesh’s tactical errors, as we have done with several of the recent large oil tanker strikes in a large VBIED production facility in Mosul,” Harrigian said, using another acronym for ISIS.
According to the head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, ISIS is using innocent civilians as shields. “Daesh fled Manbij, hiding among the civilian populace,” he said.
The US commander said they will continue airstrikes while they move towards Mosul and Raqqa –major ISIS bastions in Iraq and Syria.
“Using the complement of airpower available to us, we will continue to deliver more destruction to Daesh’s command-and-control than they can absorb,” the coalition general said
“We have gathered lessons from Manbij [former ISIS border pocket liberated recently by the coalition-backed SDF] and will leverage them in coordination with our partnered ground forces to allow us tools of terror from the battlefield,” he said.
Harrigian also stressed that the coalition will work on taking out ISIS drones. “As we discover new or evolving Daesh capabilities, such as small unmanned aerial systems, you can be sure we’ll take off the battlefield,” he stated. |