Pentagon: Counter-IS campaign costs $424 million so far

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The Associated Press

In this photo taken Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, U.S. sailors conduct a drill on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf. On Thursday, Oct. 16, the U.S. conducted 14 airstrikes, hitting buildings controlled by the Islamic State group, sniping positions and a heavy machine gun, according to a statement issued by the U.S. military’s central command. Over the last two weeks, U.S airstrikes in support of Kurdish fighters in the embattled border town of Kobani have killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq, said Rear Adm. John Kirby. (AP Photo/Brian Stephen, U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has spent $424 million so far in its military campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The Pentagon’s press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the cost has averaged about $7.6 million a day since the bombing began in Iraq on Aug. 8. President Obama expanded the campaign by authorizing airstrikes in Syria in late September.

The U.S. military also is flying large numbers of aerial refueling and surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq and Syria, and it has about 1,400 U.S. military personnel on the ground in Iraq. There are no U.S. troops in Syria.

The Air Force also has flown a small number of resupply missions in Iraq and Syria.

Kirby also said that in Iraq, local security forces are beginning to make some headway against Islamic State forces, while in the Syrian town of Kobani the local Kurdish forces are in control of the majority of the area. But the spokesman also said progress is slow and it is not possible to predict when a turning point will be reached.

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