Islamic State Threat Endures After Defeats, U.S. General Warns
- Three-year anti-IS operation reclaims 98 percent of land
- Top American general in fight warns of idealogical diaspora
A Shiite cultural center after a bomb attack in Kabul on Dec. 28, 2017.
Photographer: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images
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The U.S. general commanding forces against the Islamic State said it has lost 98 percent of the land it claimed and 7.7 million people have been liberated from its control, but warned the group could continue as a shadow terror outfit operating without a base.
Army Lieutenant General Paul Funk, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, said a coalition that has grown to 74 nations reclaimed 65,000 square kilometers (25,096 square miles) of land from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh, in 2017. Yet he warned the allies can’t let up.