More than 60,000 ISIS fighters have been killed by U.S. coalition military forces during the two-year campaign to wipe out the jihadists, a top commander said Tuesday.
Speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association's annual conference, Army Gen. Raymond Thomas said the new body count is 10,000 higher than was reported in December, Military.com reported.
"I'm not into morbid body counts, but that matters," Thomas said, the military news outlet reported.
"So, when folks ask, do you need more aggressive [measures], do you need better [rules of engagement], I would tell you that we're being pretty darn prolific right now."
Figures on the number of ISIS militants has varied, Military.com reported, noting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated in 2014 there were 100,000 ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria.
The Pentagon announced last summer there were only 15,000 to 20,000 militants remaining in those countries, Military.com reported.
"We're making great progress against this enemy," Thomas said, Military.com reported. "I don't know that that resonates in [the] United States about the nature of the threat and how aggressively we're getting after it, because I think that might assuage some of the concerns about how we are able to get after an enemy, a declared enemy of the United States."
He added discussion of whether to employ more aggressive bombing campaigns is ongoing, commenting: "There's some recommendation in the offing for the administration to consider. We'll see which consideration they opt for," Military.com reported.
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