MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - The airstrike coalition aimed at quashing the Islamic State (IS) militant group is gaining momentum, Pentagon Press Secretary and Spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby stated.
"We believe the strategy is working. The coalition continues to gain momentum and strength," Kirby was quoted as saying on the Pentagon's Twitter account Friday.
"We have to be discriminant about what we hit, where and when. ISIL [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] doesn't," Kirby added.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control.
To impede the military advancement of the group, the United States launched airstrikes against the jihadists' positions in Iraq and Syria in mid-September, with some other countries such as France, the United Kingdom and Australia joining later to form an airstrike coalition to crack down on the militants.
