Colonel Ryan Dillon, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation
Inherent Resolve Spokesman; Eric J. Pahon, Defense Department Spokesman
ERIC J. PAHON: Good
morning, everybody. Sorry for the delay,
as happens when trying to communicate halfway across the world via satellite
from a war zone. We had some technical
difficulties.
So today, we will have an audio-only briefing,
unfortunately. So you will have Colonel
Dillon's photo up there. We just weren't
able to establish the video connection.
We've got a few extra graphics for you today.
So, with us today is Colonel Ryan Dillon, Combined Joint
Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman, live from Baghdad. And we should be able to hear Colonel Dillon.
Sir, can you hear us?
COLONEL RYAN DILLON:
I can hear you just fine. How
about me?
MR. PAHON: We can
hear you, if we can turn it up just a little bit.
Colonel Dillon has an update on operations to annihilate
ISIS in Iraq and Syria. And once he's
done with his remarks, he'll take your questions.
And Colonel Dillon, you have the mike.
COL. DILLON: All
right. Thank you very much. Thanks, Eric.
Good morning, everyone.
We'll begin with a brief word on the CJTF-OIR transfer of authority this
past Tuesday, then go into updates on the battle to defeat ISIS in Iraq and
Syria.
So this week saw a transition in the leadership of Combined
Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Army's 18th Airborne Corps, led by Lieutenant
General Townsend, completed their deployment as the headquarters of CJTF-OIR
and returned to home station at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The mission now continues under the leadership of the 3rd
Armored Corps out of Fort Hood, Texas, under the command of Lieutenant General
Paul E. Funk II. So, while some of our
personnel have changed, what has not changed is the coalition's mission, and
that is to defeat ISIS through our partners in Iraq and Syria.
To that end, we are seeing steady progress and overwhelming
momentum in the fight to defeat ISIS in Iraq.
Iraqi security forces rolled over ISIS in decisive operations in Tal
Afar. The ISF are now quickly
transitioning for follow-on operations in the few remaining ISIS-held areas in
Iraq.
While the order for these following operations will come
from the Iraqi prime minister, the coalition will continue to provide support
every step of the way through our surveillance assets, precision fires,
intelligence, and advisers on the ground.
Specifically, the coalition conducted 15 strikes in Hawija and 18 in
western Anbar this past week, targeting ISIS tactical units, fighting positions,
car bomb facilities and oil revenue targets.
Stabilization continues in Mosul as federal police, local
police and tribal forces continue to hold and conduct security operations in
both east and west Mosul. There have
been no substantial incidents as residents work together with local and national
government institutions to clean up and return essential services to the city.
Moving to Syria, progress is steady in isolating and
defeating ISIS. Our partners in the
Syrian Democratic Forces made significant gains in Raqqa, clearing the
remaining area of the old city and reclaiming critical medical and religious
infrastructure from ISIS.
After breaching the ancient wall 60 days ago, the SDF has
made determined and steady progress in dense urban terrain as ISIS fighters
struggle desperately in a futile attempt to hold on to territory in their
disappearing caliphate.
Our SDF partners must clear every single building, floor by
floor, despite the mortal dangers of booby traps and suicidal ISIS
fighters. I'd like to share some visuals
to show the progress being made and to illustrate some of the challenges the
SDF face in this battle.
So what you should be looking at right now is a graphic
showing the city of Raqqa. And you'll
see the city divided by a major roadway separating the east and west sides.
The dark green areas depict previous gains prior to the 21st
of August, and the brighter green areas show the gains of the SDF that they
have made between 21 and 28 August.
And I'd like to highlight three things that demonstrate the
environment where our Syrian Democratic Force partners fight to unseat ISIS
from Raqqa.
First, on the western side of the city, the SDF swept
through the ISIS-infested regional children's hospital, and they went through
there floor by floor, denying the terrorists key infrastructure they'd used as
a fortified ISIS headquarters and facilitation hub for weapons. The children's
hospital is near the old city center, where ISIS fought from a heavily
engineered tunnel system.
So next, you should be now looking at a stairwell. And to give you an idea of how extensive the
tunnel system is, I want you to look at the next couple pictures. You'll see concrete-reinforced tunnel system
that runs underneath the children's hospital.
The entrance to the tunnel is well-constructed, with
handrails and stairs. And then, as you
get down into the tunnel, you'll see here, where this is the main tunnel, and
then it branches off into less elaborate dirt tunnels that lead to houses and
shops nearby.
These tunnels connect ISIS fighting positions and also
provide safe passage and coverage from SDF fighters and coalition strikes. ISIS has cots and cooking stoves, and has
also stockpiled weapons and ammunition in these structures.
And the next slide, to the next graphic -- you should now be
looking at the Raqqa slide, showing progress that has been made from the 28th of
August to the 6th of September.
The Syrian Democratic Forces successfully reclaimed control
of and preserved the -- (inaudible) -- 2nd of September. The Great Mosque of Raqqa is the oldest
mosque in the city, and was under ISIS control since 2014.
It is well-known that ISIS uses civilian infrastructure as
-- such as schools and hospitals and mosques to fight from, and to support
their terrorist activity. And despite
ISIS's longstanding control of this historic site, the SDF was able to regain
the surrounding terrain and secure the ancient structure without collateral
damage.
As of this week, the SDF have liberated more than 60 percent
of Raqqa. They have successfully
connected a front on the west side of the city, as you can see with the bright
green portion, and they will now work to back-clear the area inside of the
circle, if you will, still held by ISIS, and that should turn bright green over
the next week or next couple of weeks.
We have the same dialogue in Mosul about the progress that
is being made. And I'd like to reiterate
that once you reach this type of urban environment, this type of urban combat,
progress becomes -- it comes by building by building and block by block. And this is a very deliberate process and
requires great care to also avoid collateral damage and harm to noncombatants.
SDF fighters continue to hold each block of the city that
they have seized, and they have not relinquished a single piece of it. As our SDF partners defeat ISIS militarily in
the city, they are also addressing humanitarian needs. The SDF have personnel assisting in the
evacuation of thousands of civilians who have been held captive by ISIS.
These evacuees are escaping ISIS control from urban
minefields and sniper fire, understanding if they remain they will likely be
used as human shields and trapped as hostages.
Those who have escaped know better than anyone how ISIS fighters have no
regard for innocent life, and show no discrimination in who they will harm. In the last several weeks, the coalition has
witnessed groups of civilians fleeing to the SDF for protection, often making
it to safety, but other times facing violent ISIS retaliation.
About 130 miles south of Raqqa, northwest in the border town
of Abu Kamal, the coalition continues to monitor the remnants of an ISIS convoy
that had attempted to evacuate toward the Iraqi border -- (inaudible) -- a deal
brokered by Lebanese Hezbollah. The
coalition was not party to this agreement and we will not allow this armed
terrorist convoy to link up with fellow ISIS fighters in the Euphrates River
valley.
We continue to monitor the 11 buses that remain in the open
desert, fully aware of ISIS families and noncombatants that are also
present. We have not struck the convoy
itself and have not hindered food and water resupplies to reach the convoy.
However, since the beginning of this event on the 29th of
August, the coalition has successfully struck more than 40 ISIS vehicles and
about 85 ISIS fighters. We are still
seeking opportunities to strike clearly identified ISIS individuals and
vehicles whenever and wherever we find them.
I'll finish up in the middle Euphrates River valley. The international coalition to defeat ISIS
conducted a precision airstrike which killed the ISIS weapons research leader
Abu Anas al-Shami. On Monday the 4th of
September 2017, the coalition targeted and struck al-Shami as he rode a
motorcycle near Mayadin, Syria. Al-Shami
led ISIS's attempt to procure explosives and ISIS plans to use bombs for
external terrorist acts.
He also oversaw the building of improvised explosives to --
(inaudible), vehicles and buildings to try and help ISIS cling to strongholds
they are losing in Iraq and Syria.
Also on the 4th of September, the coalition killed a senior
ISIS drone pilot trainer and engineer, by the name of Junaid ur Rehman, with a
precision airstrike south of Mayadin in the village of Al-Asharah, Syria.
Ur-Ramon was an experienced engineer. He was working to increase the -- ISIS's
ability to weaponize drones and to conduct aerial surveillance on the
battlefield for attack plotting throughout the world.
We are witnessing the continued degradation of a morally
bankrupt terrorist fighting force whose leaders are detaching more and more
often from their foot soldiers.
And with that, I'll go ahead and take your questions.
MR. PAHON: Okay. Great.
Thank you very much, Colonel Dillon.
First, we'll start with Laurie Mylroie, Kurdistan 24.
Q: Thank -- thank you
very much, Colonel, for that update.
I have some questions associated with your comments about
the ISIS bus convoy. Have there been --
there have been reports that some of these ISIS fighters have -- a significant
number of ISIS fighters have escaped, despite the U.S. surveillance and
attack. Is that the case?
COL. DILLON: The --
the 11 buses that we are monitoring -- there have been no ISIS fighters that
have been able to -- to retrograde or evade from -- from that position. So any -- any reports that say otherwise are
false.
We have struck individual ISIS fighters and fighters that
leave in small groups to walk away, and as soon as they get far enough away
from the buses -- we have, and we will continue to strike ISIS fighters that
venture far enough away where we can hit them without causing harm to the
civilians that are a part of that convoy.
So to -- to quickly go back to your question, out of that --
those 11 buses that are stuck in the desert right now, none of them have been
able to get away.
Q: Well, thank you.
And there have been senior Iraqi figures associated with
Iran, including two that are major individuals in the Hashd al-Shaabi, Abu
Mahdi al-Mohandes and Qais al-Khazali, as well as Nouri al-Maliki, the former
prime minister of Iraq, who have all supported Hezbollah and this convoy --
they said it's the right thing to do, to take these ISIS fighters out of
Lebanon, bring them on -- to the Iraqi border.
What is your -- do you have any reaction to the support that
people like al-Mohandes, al-Khazali and Maliki have given?
COL. DILLON: I will
say that the coalition's mission is very clear, and that is to defeat ISIS in
Iraq and Syria. And so we were not party
to this agreement, and the deal to transport hundreds of experienced ISIS
terrorists across Syrian-held territory to be delivered to the border of Iraq,
of which -- Iraq, you know, did not say in this agreement, either -- is
unacceptable to us.
And so, on the 29th of August, when we found out that this
convoy was en route to the border, we repositioned assets and we stopped and
prevented this convoy from linking up with fellow ISIS fighters.
So our mission is clear, and that is to defeat ISIS. It is not to push ISIS around and leave them
for someone else to have to deal with.
So I think that -- I know that we have -- while we did not expect an
event like this, it has been lucrative, and it has allowed us to take several
ISIS fighters, leaders and resources off the battlefield.
Q: My last question
on this -- al-Mohandes was involved in the -- the bombing of the U.S. and
French embassies in Kuwait in '83.
Al-Khazali was one of those figures attacking U.S. forces in Iraq when
we were there, and was held at Camp Cropper.
Are you comfortable with these people as senior figures in
al-Hashd al-Shaabi?
COL. DILLON: I'd just
-- I'll go back to what I had said before.
Our -- you know, we work with the government of Iraq and the
Iraqi Security Forces. The Hashd
al-Shaabi and the Popular Mobilization Forces are -- have committed to
following the orders of the president of Iraq, and we think that everyone who's
operating in Iraq should be doing just that.
So we will continue to work with the ISF and the government
of Iraq to defeat ISIS throughout Iraq.
And that trend and the way that that is going right now has been
successful. And we are going to continue
to push hard and keep the pressure on ISIS in Iraq, in the remaining ISIS
strongholds that remain.
MR. PAHON: Thank you.
Ben Kesling, Wall Street Journal.
Q: Hi, Colonel
Dillon.
I wonder if you can give a quick rundown on what's going on
with Hawija, in preparation for -- for an assault on Hawija. Do you have any breakdown of possible ISIS
numbers or civilian numbers in Hawija?
And can you talk a little bit about the tactical and strategic
significance of that town?
COL. DILLON: Okay,
Ben. So first off, I would say right
now, in Hawija, we estimate there are less than 1,000 ISIS fighters that remain
in that area.
Second, how are we going about doing that? I know that the coalition, just as we have in
the lead-up to Tal Afar and any other offensive -- is that we are striking
those positions that we can find with ISIS.
And over the course of the last week, we've conducted 17
strikes, mainly against places like defensive fighting positions, vehicle-borne
IED factories. We'll continue to do that
and continue to monitor and use our surveillance aircraft to provide
intelligence to the Iraqis.
Now, as far as how the Iraqis are going to do this, I don't
want to get ahead of them. And this is
certainly, you know, their fight, and this is exactly how we have conducted
business in the past as well, where they are in the lead.
Iraqis are the ones who are developing these plans and
they're the ones who are executing them.
We are in support. And so I don't
want to get too far ahead with how that is going to play out.
But I will also say that General Abdul Amir, who's in charge
of the overall operations in Tal Afar, is also the one who's still in charge
right now. And, as we saw, the success
in Tal Afar, with all elements of the Iraqi Security Force working together on
multiple fronts simultaneously, was just too much for ISIS to handle. And I expect to see something very similar to
capitalize on the successes that we've seen in Tal Afar.
Q: And can you just,
again, talk a little bit about the significance of Hawija? What does -- what does that town mean, and
what does retaking it mean? And is there
-- are there difficulties there because of the fault lines -- the sort of
ethnic fault lines that are in the Hawija area, the proximity to disputed
territories, all that?
COL. DILLON: Well, I
think, you know, first off, you know, one of the big significance of this is
that I know, for a lot of people in the region, they have continually asked,
you know, "Hawija next, Hawija next."
So, again, that is something that is decided upon by the prime minister.
But, that said, Hawija is -- is one of the final remaining
ISIS strongholds. And outside of Hawija,
then we have western Anbar. And in
western Anbar, you've got, really, three or four towns, Annah, Rawa and
Al-Qaim. So as we -- as we look at the
overall and the progress of how the Iraqi security forces have come from three
years ago -- Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah, Qayyarah, Mosul, Tal Afar -- they are
getting better and better as we've seen especially in Tal Afar, and have
continued to, as we say, feed off of that success as we see this growing into
Hawija.
So, I don't know if that really addressed it or not, but
knowing that this is one of the final remaining ISIS strongholds, I think it is
significant enough.
MR. PAHON: Next, we
have Lita Baldor, A.P.
Q: Thanks, and good
to see you the other day.
Can you clear up a couple of things on the convoy? Initially, it was 17 buses and about 300
people, and that split in two. How many
are remaining? Of these 11 that you're
talking about, are those just the ones that are over -- that -- because aren't
there some that are also near Palmyra?
Or are those not there? And are
the 11 just the ones that are over near Abu Kamal?
COL. DILLON: Okay,
Lita. So, it started at 17 buses. And on the 31st of August, those buses split
up; 11 went north, and those are the ones that we are currently watching right
now. And then you had six that stayed on
the south along the highway that they were traveling on from western Syria all
the way to where we stopped them.
So, they stayed there until the 2nd of September, and on the
2nd of September is when those six buses that stayed in the south, they drove
away and went further into Syria towards Palmyra. So, we have maintained eyes-on the 11 that
are in the desert, you know, that -- that were the ones that broke north.
And out of that, we still assess that overall it was about
300 ISIS fighters, and about 300 family members, what we assessed from the very
beginning.
Q: So -- (inaudible)
-- so the six that left, you've just let them -- they've just gone; you've let
them get away, essentially, into Palmyra.
The others -- how many would you assess are left in those 11 buses of
those -- of the 300 fighters and the 300 family, because you've -- you've
talked about killing at least 85.
COL. DILLON: Yeah,
and just to clarify there, Lita. The 85
that we killed are not all from the convoy.
Several of those ISIS fighters that we have killed were those that were
a part of elements that were coming from ISIS-held territory to drive out to
and link up with these buses. So -- but just
to -- to go to your question, I don't have a good figure as to how many within
the 11 buses are still there, but I can follow up and try to get that to you.
Q: Even a breakout as
to approximately how many ISIS fighters are in those buses?
COL. DILLON: Yeah, we
can -- we can break that down and try to find that out for you.
MR. PAHON: Thomas
Watkins has a follow-on to Lita's question, and then we'll move to Courtney and
then Joe after that.
Q: Thank you. Thank you, Colonel.
Just -- yeah, just to follow up from Lita. Why -- whose decision was it? And why was this decision made to allow these
six buses to essentially escape? And what's
your estimation of how many ISIS fighters were on those six buses?
COL. DILLON: And just
go to the (inaudible). Number one is, as
those buses, you know, drove further into western Syria, we just made a
decision to stop monitoring it as they, you know, drew further into the
interior of Syria.
And my answer on the same question to Lita is, those that
were on those six buses, I don't have -- similarly, I don't know how many -- we
could -- do a quick break-up and say, out of the 17 buses, 300 fighters divided
by 11. But I don't want to do that.
We will see if we can get you a good answer on how many we
assess to be in the six that moved further in, and how many are in the 11 up
north -- that remain up north. Okay?
MR. PAHON: Next, to
Courtney Kube, NBC.
Q: Thank you.
Hi, Colonel Dillon.
One more on this. So was it fair
to assume that the roughly 300 family from the beginning are still in the 11
buses in the desert? Have any of the
family members escaped or left?
COL. DILLON: Again, I
-- I don't know if the first three buses had all ISIS fighters and then the
following -- the rest of the buses had just family members. I don't have that break-up. I don't know -- I didn't have a headcount for
each of the ISIS buses.
And so, what we can do is get an estimate to find out how
many are in the 11 in the north, and then how many are the south. But, you know, I would say that the -- that
it was a mix in both the six buses in the south, and a mix in the 11 buses that
are still remaining in the north.
Q: Okay. And then, just to be clear, when you said you
haven't hindered any food, water supply, that food and water is coming from the
Syrian regime, right? And the reason
you're allowing that is because you still believe there are civilians or family
members in the 11 buses that are stuck?
COL. DILLON: Well,
number one, we know that there are family members that are still remaining in
those 11 buses, because we're watching the -- we're watching these buses the
whole time. And as far as we know where
it is coming from, I can't say, you know, with 100 percent if it's coming from
the regime armed forces.
But it is coming -- that food and aid is coming from
Syrian-held territory. And if we can
assess, you know, that -- that it is not ISIS fighters, then we are -- again,
we are not helping with the delivery of this aid, but we are not going to
hinder it, either.
Q: And then, just one
more on the -- the tunnel photos that you showed from up in Raqqa. I'm just curious, where did those come
from? Did American military take those
photos?
COL. DILLON: I got
those from our elements, from -- who -- who are in charge of operations
there. I don't know who took the photos,
but those were photos that were underneath the children's hospital.
Q: Thanks.
MR. PAHON: Joe Tabet,
Al Hurra.
Q: Thank you.
Colonel Dillon, when you say that the coalition will not --
(inaudible) -- convoy to link up with ISIS fighters in the Euphrates River
Valley, how do you see the fate of the convoy?
COL. DILLON: We have
offered and made a recommendation to our -- to the Russians on the
de-confliction line, to provide a course of action to allow the -- the
civilians to be separated. But that has
not gained any traction, so we don't see it as our -- as our issue, if you
will.
This was a -- these are -- they are in Syrian-held
territory. They are -- this is a deal
that was made by Lebanese Hezbollah. So,
again, we are standing firm to say that we are willing to do what we can to
disrupt ISIS fighters from moving into the MERV and -- moving into and linking
up with their fellow fighters.
Q: And another
question, on Hawija -- do you believe that all parties involved in the decision
to liberate Hawija are -- are fine with having the Peshmerga units playing a
role in this operation?
COL. DILLON: That is
a question for the government of Iraq. I
know that -- you know, I will stand firm to say that the coalition will
continue to support the Iraqi Security Forces.
And as far as your question, that is -- I don't want to address that
one, because I think that's more appropriate for Iraqis to take on.
Q: Thank you.
MR. PAHON: Thank
you. Tara Copp.
Q: Okay, thanks,
Colonel Dillon.
Since you've mentioned that the convoy's being watched at
all times, could you describe to us how food and water is being delivered? Is it being delivered by truck or by
car? And how is the U.S. able to
determine that an element delivering food is actually not ISIS support?
COL. DILLON: Well,
okay. So they are vehicles like pickup
trucks and, you know, bongo trucks that have been providing the
deliveries. These -- these are coming
from Syrian-held territory. So we don't
want to make any kind of miscalculations by striking the -- anything other than
ISIS. So -- so, you know, we are going
to play a little -- be a little cautious about that.
Number two, just as something to add, was, about 72 hours
ago, after delivery and offload of some of the supplies, we witnessed through
our ISR feeds the ISIS fighters fighting amongst themselves, brawling in the
dirt, if you will, after the offload of supplies.
So we chalk that up to frustration by these fighters, being
stuck in the middle of this desert, and we certainly like to see that something
will move forward, as far as an agreement or some of -- some kind of stance by
the Syrian regime to -- to either separate these fighters and -- take them and
separate the civilians.
Q: Okay, and then, in
the airspace above this convoy, are you having to deconflict or warn off -- are
there potentially Iranian UAVs also watching?
Or are you having to deconflict with Russia on any sort of Syrian air
assets also watching the convoy?
COL. DILLON: We
deconflict with the Russians, and we are talking with them on a daily
basis. So they know where our assets are
in relation to this convoy. And as far
as other elements that you had mentioned, whether they're Syrian or Iranian
drones, we have the right capabilities and assets to also keep an eye out on
those.
Q: Just one last
before we drop off -- the drone engineer that U.S. forces struck -- I hadn't
seen many drones on the daily airstrike counts of late. Can you describe, in general, how big the
drone threat was getting for coalition or U.S. and partnered forces?
COL. DILLON: We've
seen -- there have been -- as I've gone through the -- the strike releases,
there have been -- I would say several, but, you know, over the course of the
last, you know, couple months, there have been UAS, you know, sites that have
been struck.
Bottom line is that, as far as the drone threat overall, the
coalition is decimating that network. So
we are destroying their launch points, we're killing their engineers, we're
dismantling their manufacturing facilities and their users.
So there's no question about it -- that we are ripping apart
their ability to use drones and to -- and to further get better at their
technique. So -- then today's particular
-- you know, today's announcement of this HVI strike, I think, is yet another
example of how we are getting after that.
MR. PAHON: We still
have quite a big queue. But, Courtney,
do you have a quick follow-up?
Q: Just one
follow-on.
Ryan, you said that the U.S. made a recommendation to the
Russians on the de-confliction line, to allow the civilians to be
separated. When was that?
And -- and on something like that that's not -- I don't
recall a time where there's been something on the de-confliction line that
hasn't been de-conflicting airspace.
It's always been really particular that that line is used for that.
So when something like that happens, does that elevate the
-- who's on the call? Like, is that,
like, a higher level leader in OIR who makes that recommendation, or makes that
offer? Can you tell us a little more
about that, please?
COL. DILLON: No, it's
not a higher level leader. There were
some open announcements by, you know, different authorities that talked about
the need to take care of civilians. And
so we offered, you know, some recommendations and courses of action.
So that is -- that's how that came about. And that was, I want to say, relatively early
in -- I don't have the exact date, but I would say that that was probably two
or three days after, so I would say around the 31st of August.
But that's just a -- that's an educated guess as to when
that initial conversation happened. It
was -- it was in our initial press release that we had provided this course of
action to the Russians.
MR. PAHON: Gentleman
in the back, I can't remember your name, I'm sorry.
Q: Jack Detsch with
Al-Monitor.
Colonel, does the coalition have any assessment of how
pro-regime gains in Deir ez-Zor will impact the fight against ISIS ongoing, and
how many militants might have been killed there?
COL. DILLON:
(Inaudible) -- we do monitor and watch and see, you know, where they are
and where they're going. And at the same
time, as they move closer into the Middle Euphrates River Valley, like into
Deir ez-Zor, and -- we deconflict with the -- the Russians.
And, as most of you know, there is a deconfliction line that
runs south of Tabqa and goes all the way across -- somewhat parallel --
irregularly, but parallel to the Euphrates River, so that we can maintain our
focus, both the Russians and the regime and the coalition and the SDF, on
defeating ISIS.
We will continue to deconflict and, as necessary and as
required, we'll continue to draw a -- that line, if you will, further on down
the Middle Euphrates River Valley, if necessary.
Q: Got it.
And then, just with the gains that the SDF has made in the
old city of Raqqa, can you talk a little bit about how this might limit the
mobility of ISIS fighters or diminish their command-and-control, specifically
with the tunnels? Have they captured any
of that network?
COL. DILLON: So I --
we still have a -- a good amount of fighting to go, and as with the, you know,
children's hospital that I just mentioned, just north of -- I don't know if the
map is still up, but just, if you were to draw, almost equidistant from the
children's hospital to the stadium -- about halfway between those points is the
Raqqa national hospital, which has also been identified as a major ISIS
holdout.
As far as the -- the tunnel networks, if we find them -- the
Syrian Democratic Forces find them, we do, you know, have measures in place to
block those tunnels, to prevent ISIS fighters from using them and popping up
behind lines that have already been -- or areas that have already been cleared.
So, every day, block by block, as we find these -- these
tunnels and these resources, we -- we -- Syrian Democratic Forces do exploit
them. So the further we get into the
city, the -- and the more pressure that is put on them, it does absolutely limit
their ability to move around more extensively.
MR. PAHON: Carla
Babb, Voice of America.
Q: Colonel, thank you
for doing this. The gentlemen in the
back kind of -- kind of asked my question, but I want to get a few more
specifics, like four more specifics on Deir ez-Zor.
So, first of all, kind of what is the situation there? How much of Deir ez-Zor does the Syrian
regime control? How many ISIS fighters
do you estimate to still be there? Is
the plan still to wait this out?
I know we've got MAT -- we've got some fighters that were
preparing to go into the Deir ez-Zor region.
Are we still holding off our -- our partners?
And I guess last is, can we trust the Syrian regime, who
just made a deal with ISIS, to take care of ISIS in Deir ez-Zor? Is that a smart strategy?
COL. DILLON: All right,
I'll try to -- to take all these on, one by one.
So number one is Syrian forces, the regime, has, you know,
made it to the city of Deir ez-Zor, the outskirts, and have linked up with
their besieged brigade, or that element that they've had there for the last
three years. Number of fighters, we
estimate, in Deir ez-Zor is about 2,500 ISIS fighters.
As far as our partner forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces
and some of the Arab contingent that is from this area, the SDF, our
battle-tested and proven partner -- they have partnered with indigenous Deir
ez-Zor tribes and other tribes from the Middle Euphrates River Valley. And they are still prepared to seize those
towns and province -- the province of Deir ez-Zor from ISIS.
To address your third question, yes, there is concern about
whether or not and how serious the Syrian regime is about defeating ISIS. So are they, you know, going to -- I've heard
this brought up before -- squeegee -- are they going to squeegee them out of
Deir ez-Zor and, you know, push them elsewhere?
Not if we can help it.
And, as we do -- we -- we conduct strikes, and as you well
know, through our strike releases, throughout the MERV -- I just mentioned two
strikes and two HVIs that were killed just outside of Mayadin. So we will continue to strike up and down the
MERV.
We have a partner force that is, you know, ready to -- to
move into the Deir ez-Zor province and down the Middle Euphrates River
Valley. And so we'll just have to see
when that is going to happen, but we'll continue the strikes.
I hope I addressed each one of your questions, and if you
have a follow up, I'm ready.
Q: You did. That was great. Thank you.
My follow up is unrelated.
I just want a quick update, like I usually get. What's the number of estimated ISIS fighters
in Iraq and in Syria -- (inaudible) -- the latest?
COL. DILLON: All
right. So the latest, and I'll try to
break this out for you. So, I already talked about Hawija, less than
1,000; in Deir ez-Zor, which is at 2,500; in Raqqa, we estimate there have been
1,500 there now; and then throughout the MERV from Deir -- not including Deir
ez-Zor, but Mayadin down to Abu Kamal, about 6,000 to 8,000 fighters. And I think that covers it. And yeah, it does.
MR. PAHON: Okay. And Tima al-Khirsan, Al Jazeera – got it.
Q: Thanks for doing this,
Colonel.
There's been a number of reports recently about the
discrepancy in reporting civilian casualties between the coalition and other
organizations. The Commission of Inquiry
on Syria, appointed by the U.N., said yesterday they were gravely concerned.
Can you help our audience understand why is that
discrepancy? Is there any, not truth,
but is -- do they have a point, basically, that the coalition, maybe the
investigations are taking too long? Why
is that?
COL. DILLON: Well, I
think that, you know, you -- there are allegations and then there are, you
know, those that are -- are substantiated, you know, with -- with the actual
fact checking. And so the allegations
that have come in do -- do tend to be, you know, much higher than what our -- our
assessments determine them to be.
We, as a combined joint task force, conduct detailed
assessments of each allegation. And so
when we get an allegation and we work with elements like Airwars to get the
information that they provide and we go through a detailed assessment. And that assessment includes going through
strike logs, looking at videos, conducting interviews. And we spend a lot of time in making sure
that if there is an allegation and the allegation is credible, then we report
that and we do this on a monthly basis.
And we are open and transparent with -- with our strikes and
our assessments of civilian casualty allegations. I would say that our critics do not conduct
such detailed assessments, often using single-source, scant information. And that is often taken as fact. So we agree that civilians must be protected
and that is why we have coalition partners and coalition forces that are
risking their lives every day to save civilians.
Q: Thank you,
Colonel. I have one quick follow up on
that. Airwars said that they currently
assess that 1,700 or more civilians have likely been killed in strikes in Raqqa
since March. Would you agree with that
number?
COL. DILLON: Again,
we take those assessments. And one thing
that I would like to point out is that out of the Airwars assessments that we
have gone through so far, less than one percent of the allegations that we have
gone through from Airwars have been determined as credible.
So we will continue to work with them and we will, you know,
we will take the hundreds of allegations that they receive. But as you can see in our monthly civilian
casualty reports, we go through those and we will assess them as credible or
non-credible.
And quite frankly, a lot of them -- a lot of the reports
that we find that are credible and we take responsibility for are often
self-reported. So they're from our
pilots or from our drone operators, and we -- we will -- if we identify that we
have done something, there's often -- you know, the coalition that reports it
on our own, and we take -- we take credit for that. Not -- and we are -- we're policing
ourselves.
MR. PAHON: Okay. And I think we're down to -- Laurie Mylroie
had a follow-on.
Q: Yes, Colonel. I have two questions related to your
update. One had to do with -- you -- you
said you struck and killed the ISIS weapons leader Abu Anas al-Shami, could you
explain something about Shami, what his real name is and what his background
is?
COL. DILLON: I know,
as with most of these HVI notifications that I provide during these Pentagon
press briefings, we follow up after the fact with a press release, and there
should be one waiting for you. I don't
have more information other than what I have provided to you in my statement.
So I don't know -- I don't know. But we can look to see if we can find out his
nationality, where he's from, et cetera.
Q: And another quick
question. The tunnels -- the picture of
the tunnels that you showed was very -- very impressive. Those are impressive tunnels. How does the ISIS infrastructure in Raqqa
compare to, say, Mosul? Are the tunnels
in Raqqa more sophisticated than what you saw in Mosul?
COL. DILLON: I think
-- you know, when we compare Mosul and Raqqa, they -- the extents of the
defense network, the defenses that have been put in by ISIS, you can tell where
their, quote, unquote, "twin capitals" have been, and where they've
spent their time.
We did not see this type -- these type of elaborate defenses
established in Tal Afar by any way, shape or form. But I would -- I would say that the -- Raqqa
and the -- what defenses they put in, with IEDs and these tunnel networks, are
comparable to what we've seen in Mosul.
MR. PAHON: All
right. (Inaudible). Anybody else?
All right. Colonel
Dillon, do you have any closing words for us?
COL. DILLON: No, and
we'll try to get our -- our video fixed for the next go around.
MR. PAHON: Hopefully
next time we can see it. It's been a
while since we've seen him on TV screen.
Okay. Well, thank you
very much, and that concludes today's briefing, everybody. Thanks very much for coming.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment