U.S. and coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria began in August 2014 in response to a rapidsweep of northern portions of Syria and Iraq by the terrorist group.
Since then, through thousands of missions flown by U.S. and coalition pilots, more than 8,500 Islamic State fighters have been killed in Iraq and Syria, according to U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Lloyd Austin.
The White House on Tuesday released a summary of Islamic State targets struck since operations began, as part of a series of talking points for the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Abadi is in Washington for a short visit to request additional military and humanitarian aid from the U.S.
U.S. aircraft have conducted most of the airstrikes over Iraq and Syria. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Washington Examiner, the Pentagon released a breakdown of sorties by type of aircraft from the launch of Operation Inherent Resolve, current as of March 24.
Based on the data, the Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16C Fighting Falcons have carried the lion’s share of the missions against the Islamic State. The beleaguered A-10 Thunderbolt II, which the Air Force is trying to retire, was the third-most-used airframe, followed by the B-1 Lancer and the F-22 Raptor.
Not all missions resulted in airstrikes.
