Russian Foreign Ministry official says US-led airstrikes in Syria have been ‘ineffective’ against ISIL
A senior official in the Russian Foreign Ministry says the US-led international coalition against ISIL has been ineffective in both Iraq and Syria.
Ilya Rogachev, director of the Ministry's department for new challenges and threats, said in an interview with the news agency Interfax that the coalition's bombing campaign in Syria has failed to reduce the amount of territory controlled by ISIL, whose forces have only grown in number since US-led airstrikes began.
“We believe that the replenishment rate of loss (as it seems to be called in military speak) is greater than one. In other words, people are joining ISIL's ranks faster than ISIL is losing men in combat,” Rogachev said.
Rogachev also claims that ISIL's fundraising improved last year, as did its capacity to produce oil, growing from 30,000 barrels of oil a day to 50,000 barrels.
“So what are they bombing over there, anyway? At least when it comes to something like the oil export industry, [the coalition's] undisputed dominance of the air should have something to show for it. But judging by these indicators, the coalition's airstrikes have been ineffective,” Rogachev said.