 |
|
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) Headquarters -- the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley,
Va.
|
The
Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, believes the Islamic State militant group “can
muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters” throughout both Iraq and Syria, CNN
reports.
If
true, that would mean the Islamic State’s numbers have more than doubled
compared to the agency’s last estimate, which pinned the group’s total amount
of fighters at roughly 10,000.
"This
new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since
June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate,
greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence,"
a CIA spokesperson told CNN.
In
addition to updating its estimates regarding the Islamic State’s fighting
force, a separate US official also told the news channel that the US government
is already conducting surveillance flights within Syria’s borders. The United
States is looking to collect information that would help it determine when and
whether to launch airstrikes in Syria, in order to degrade the group’s ability
to fight and maneuver.
Still,
these flights do not indicate that airstrikes will be launched soon, another
unnamed official added.
Meanwhile,
Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby said that whenever the US does take military
action against the group – also known as ISIS or ISIL – it will also consider
targeting individuals in leadership positions.
“One
of the ways you get at and you destroy the capabilities of an enemy like (ISIS)
is to be pretty aggressive against them, and that does include disrupting their
ability to command and control and to lead their own forces,"
Kirby said.
Both
of these revelations come less than a day after President Barack Obama outlined
his plan to seek out and destroy Islamic State fighters “wherever they exist,” noting
that military action would be taken not only in Iraq, but also in Syria if
necessary.
“I have made it clear that we will hunt down
terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,"
Obama stated. "That means I
will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This
is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no
safe haven.”
Obama
also announced that an additional 475 American service members would be
deployed to Iraq in the coming days, though he stressed that they would not
have a “combat role”
and the US would not be sucked into another ground war in the country.
While
US lawmakers debate Obama’s proposals and American allies consider what role,
if any, they will play in the campaign against the Islamic State, Syria has
responded with criticism. A Syrian official said on Thursday that if the US
launches an attack within its borders without first consulting with Damascus,
the country would consider it an act of aggression.
 |
Central Intelligence
Agency: aerial view of the CIA headquarters
|
"Any
action of any type without the approval of Syrian government is an aggression
against Syria," said Ali Haidar, minister of national
reconciliation affairs, to Reuters. "There
must be cooperation with Syria and coordination with Syria and there must be a
Syrian approval of any action whether it is military or not."
He also raised concern over
the possibility that US action could serve as a pretext for striking the Syrian
government, which the US opposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment