Beirut/ Amman: A US official said today that more than 10,000 Islamic State militants have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.
Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken's figure came after a Paris conference on how to stop the extremists ended without any new strategy to halt their campaign.
It also comes months after the Pentagon dismissed such counts as "simply not a relevant figure" in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State group launched a major attack on the predominantly Kurdish city of Hassakeh in northeastern Syria, according to activists and Syrian state media.
Speaking today to France Inter Radio a day after the Paris conference, Blinken said the airstrikes have been effective.
US-led coalition making progress against ISIS: Jordan
The US-led coalition against the ISIS is making progress on the ground and destroying the group's military capabilities, Jordan's minister of state for media affairs Mohammad Momani said.
Jordan is training Syrian people and several Syrian tribes to empower them to stand up to the ISIS in certain areas in Syria, Momani said.
Jordan is part of the US coalition that was formed last year with the participation of several Arab and Western countries to fight the ISIS.
Jordan intensified its role in the coalition after the group earlier this year burnt alive a Jordanian pilot it had captured.
Momani stressed that the Jordanian armed forces are capable of dealing with any dangers on the border that is safe and well secured.
On the situation in Syria, the minister reiterated Jordan's call for a political solution that preserves the country's stability, unity and territorial integrity.
The minister added that Jordan will continue its humanitarian role by receiving Syrian refugees, adding that there are more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees in Jordan at present.
He called on the international community to provide aid to Jordan to be able to handle the continued influx of Syrian refugees.
