The U.S. military has spent more than $1 billion fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), the Pentagon says.
The campaign against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria began Aug. 8 via airstrikes, and Pentagon spokesman William Urban said Monday that the cost of the military offensive continues to climb.
"As of Dec. 11, 2014, the total cost of operations related to [ISIS] since kinetic operations started on Aug. 8, 2014, is $1.02 billion, and the average daily cost is $8.1 million," Urban said,
The Hill reports.
That figure does not include an earlier campaign against ISIS that began in June, The Hill says.
Over the weekend, it was reported that
U.S. ground troops were fighting ISIS forces in western Iraq, despite the Obama administration's stance that the campaign would consist only of airstrikes.
About 1,700 U.S. troops are in Iraq, a number that will increase over the coming weeks after it was announced that another 1,500 will be deployed.
Most of the ground troops are acting in advisory and training roles, helping the Iraqi military shore up its defenses and defend itself from the terror group.
Last week it was reported that several
top ISIS militants had been killed in airstrikes, and that the group's
forward momentum had stalled.
"ISIS has not taken new territory in weeks, and, in fact, we have retaken some territory ourselves," retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane said last week.
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