Operation Inherent Resolve
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the United States military's operational name for the international war against the Islamic State (IS), including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely related campaign in Libya. Through 18 September 2018, the U.S. Army's III Armored Corps was responsible for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF—OIR) and were replaced by the XVIII Airborne Corps. The campaign is primarily waged by American and British forces in support of local allies, most prominently the Iraqi security forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Combat ground troops, mostly special forces, infantry, and artillery have also been deployed, especially in Iraq. Of the airstrikes, 70% have been conducted by the military of the United States, 20% by the United Kingdom and the remaining 10% being carried out by France, Turkey, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Jordan.
Operation Inherent Resolve | |||||||
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Part of the international military intervention against the Islamic State and the War on terror | |||||||
U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornets of VFA-22 take off from USS Carl Vinson to support U.S. efforts for Operation Inherent Resolve in October 2014. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Islamic Front (2013-2015)
Syrian Salvation Government (2017-present)
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joe Biden James Mattis (Secretary of Defense, 2017 – 2018) Ashton Carter (Secretary of Defense, 2015–2017) Chuck Hagel (Secretary of Defense, 2014–2015) General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. (CENTCOM Commander, 2019–present) General Joseph Votel (CENTCOM Commander, 2016 – 2019) Lieutenant General Robert P. White Commanding General Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, 2019–2020 Major General Kevin M. Copsey (Deputy Commander-Stability CJTF-OIR) Major General Alexus G. Grynkewich (Deputy Commander-Operations and Intelligence CJTF-OIR) Major General Matthew McFarlane (Commander of CJTF-OIR, 2022–2023) Major General Joel ‘JB’ Vowell (Commander of CJTF-OIR, 2023–present) |
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † (Former leader of IS) Abu Khayr al-Masri † (al-Qaeda deputy leader) Abu Yahia al-Hamawi (Emir of Ahrar al-Sham (2015–2017)) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Elements of: | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
United States:
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant:
al-Qaeda:
Islamic Front
Syrian Salvation Government
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
United States
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant:
(per coalition) al-Qaeda:
Islamic Front
3 killed
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Tens of thousands of civilians killed by IS (per Iraqi Body Count and SOHR) |
According to the Pentagon, by March 2019, the day of the territorial defeat in Syria of IS, CJTF-OIR and its partner forces had liberated nearly 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles) of land and 7.7 million people from IS, the vast majority of the self-proclaimed caliphate's territory and subjects. By October 2017, around the time of IS's territorial defeat in Iraq, CJTF-OIR claimed that around 80,000 IS militants had been killed by it and its allies (excluding those targeted by Russian and Syrian Air Force strikes). By the end of August 2019, it had conducted 34,573 strikes. Tens of thousands more were killed by partner forces on the ground (the SDF alone claimed to have killed 25,336 IS fighters by the end of 2017).