US-Led Coalition: Less Than 3,000 ISIS Fighters Left in Iraq, Syria

Smallest Estimate for ISIS Size in Years

US-led coalition spokesman Col Ryan Dillon announced on Tuesday that the current coalition estimate is that there are less than 3,000 ISIS left total in Iraq and Syria, by far the smallest estimate in years.

US estimates on ISIS force levels have never been great, usually hovering around the 20,000-30,000 level during the course of the ISIS war, but many times claimed to have killed more fighters than ISIS was believed to have, and the estimated levels never went down, until now.

With under 3,000 ISIS left, the justification for US deployments in Iraq and Syria are getting flimsier, though officials were quick to insist that US troops are staying irrespective of whether ISIS remains active or not.

US officials have long said troops inside Iraq would remin, and more recently have also said they have no intention of removing their troops from Syria any time soon, despite there not being any Syrian government permission to stay.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.