U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that more than 10,000 Islamic State (IS) militants have been killed since the international coalition started its air campaign against the group nine months ago in Iraq and Syria.
In an interview aired on France Inter radio on June 3 after the coalition partners met in Paris, Blinken said there had been a great deal of progress in the fight against IS fighters but that the group remained "resilient and capable of taking the initiative."
"At the start of this campaign [we] said it would take time," Blinken said. "We have conceived a three-year plan and we're nine months into it."
On June 2, the United States and other members of a 20-nation coalition backed Iraq's plan for retaking territory after being accused by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi of not doing enough to help Baghdad push back the militants.
