Washington says it seeks to end military campaign against Daesh by summer 2017

A US official said on Tuesday that the US administration is hoping to finish the military campaign against Daesh before the end of summer 2017.

When the international coalition’s military intervention against the group in Iraq began in August 2014, Washington said that the elimination of the militant group would require three years. A few weeks later, the operation was expanded to include Syria.

Brett McGurk, US President Barack Obama’s representative to the coalition, told a US Senate committee on Tuesday that he wants the campaign accomplished at a faster pace than it is today.

The US diplomat explained that he visited Iraq last week to discuss with the Iraqi government the operation in Mosul, the country’s second largest city, which is still under the control of Daesh militants.

He told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that the coalition does not want to set deadlines to restore the city, but they want to achieve this as soon as possible.

Iraqi forces have just retaken the city of Fallujah, to the west of Baghdad. Fallujah is close to Mosul in the north.

McGurk stressed that the territory under Daesh control is shrinking, explaining that over a period of 18 months, Daesh has lost 50 per cent of the land that they had controlled in Iraq and 20 per cent in Syria

He also pointed out that the coalition kills Daesh leaders at a rate of one militant leader every three days.