U.S. Central Command forces carried out precision air strikes immediately focusing on ISIS camps and operatives in Syria, the Defense Department has introduced.
“Battle injury assessments are ongoing [and there are] no indications of civilian casualties,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder advised reporters throughout a morning briefing.
Ryder added that these preliminary assessments point out roughly one dozen ISIS fighters have been killed within the strikes.
When questioned as as to whether there may be any concern throughout the Pentagon that the Dec. 8 downfall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria might ostensibly result in ISIS making makes an attempt to free its detained fighters from jail camps within the area, Ryder stated that DOD is working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to make sure the scenario would not deteriorate.
“[The prison camp situation] presents a major safety concern within the sense that, have been ISIS capable of have an effect on some kind of breakout of any detention facility, that will be a major setback and one thing that will be very regarding,” Ryder stated.
“[That’s] why we proceed to work very intently with the SDF to make sure that these detainees can proceed to be held, [and we’re also] working with the worldwide group to aim to repatriate lots of these detainees; that’s one thing that we’ll proceed to speak very intently with the SDF to make sure,” he added.
When questioned in regard to the United States’ navy presence within the neighborhood of the ISIS detention services, Ryder stated the U.S. offers an “outer layer” of safety in that area, and that the first focus stays on “supporting the defeat ISIS mission extra proactively when it comes to disrupting and degrading any potential exterior operations.”
In different Centcom developments, Ryder introduced that the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group entered its space of accountability on Saturday.
The group, which was deployed to make sure stability and safety within the area, “consists of the flagship USS Harry S. Truman; Carrier Air Wing 1, with 9 embarked aviation squadrons; Destroyer Squadron 28; the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg; and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers: USS Stout and USS Jason Dunham,” Ryder defined.
The Harry S. Truman CSG arrived within the area following latest operations within the Mediterranean Sea. Its deployment to the Centcom AOR follows latest deployments to the identical area by the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG and the USS Theodore Roosevelt CSG earlier than it.
