Coalition airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria showed no signs of change under the new Trump administration over the weekend.
According to U.S. Central Command, the coalition carried out 31 airstrikes on targets in those two countries on Saturday. Most of those strikes, 25, were in Syria and the remaining six were in Iraq. Those numbers are on par with the daily totals Central Command puts out.
Those strikes occurred as Defense Secretary James Mattis spent his first day at the office, meeting with senior leaders including Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford and Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva.
On Friday, the day President Trump became commander in chief, military forces carried out 26 airstrikes. The number was 31 on Thursday, 26 on Wednesday, 23 on Tuesday and 17 on Monday, according to Central Command.
Trump has said he wants his military commanders to come up with a new plan to defeat the Islamic State in 30 days. During Mattis’ confirmation hearing before the Senate on Jan. 12, the retired Marine general called for a “very hard blow” against the terror group.
“We have to deliver a very hard blow against ISIS in the Middle East so that there’s no sense of invulnerability or invincibility there,” Mattis said. “There’s got to be a military defeat of them there, but it must be a much broader approach.”
Dunford told reporters last week that leaders are already drawing up options for the president. “My job is to share options the next leadership team can choose and identify the risks and opportunities associated with those options,” he said.
