A U.S. official said Wednesday that more than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s figure came after a Paris conference on how to stop the extremists ended without any new strategy to halt their campaign. It also comes months after the Pentagon dismissed such counts as “simply not a relevant figure” in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State group launched a major attack on the predominantly Kurdish city of Hassakeh in northeastern Syria, according to activists and Syrian state media.
Speaking Wednesday to France Inter Radio a day after the Paris conference, Blinken said the airstrikes have been effective.
