The US Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis recently stated that the Iraqi forces, supported by the US, will definitely finish off the Islamic State militants clinging to strongholds that are shrinking in size and number.
“ISIS is on the run,” Mr. Mattis told the media, after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider al-Abadi and other government leaders. “They have been shown to be unable to stand up to our team in combat.”
Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq also spoke up, saying that the fighting is tough, but the momentum is with their partners.
Mattis had reached the capital city of Baghdad a few hours after the US President Donald Trump designed a new approach to the war in Afghanistan, while pledging to take a more aggressive, effective approach against IS in Iraq and Syria.
“You see, ISIS is now caught in-between converging forces,” Mattis exclaimed, “So ISIS’s days are certainly numbered, but it’s not over yet and it’s not going to be over any time soon.”-AP
