Tuesday, March 8, 2016

U.S. Air Force Secretary: 'Nineteen US Airmen Have been Killed Since The Start Of Bombing Campaign Against The Islamic State'



Sputnik: Nineteen US Airmen Killed in Bombing Campaign Against Daesh

US Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said that the US Air Force has lost 19 airmen so far in its air campaign against Daesh.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Air Force has lost 19 airmen so far in its air campaign against the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, US Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James told a press conference.

"We lost 19 airmen, eight of whom were due to enemy activity," James told reporters on Monday. The air campaign against Daesh "is taking its toll on our airmen [and] our aircraft," she added.

Earlier on Monday, the Obama administration announced its plans to release an assessment of civilian and combatant casualties from its counterterrorism operations in the past six years and that it would disclose the information on an annual basis going forward.

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WNU Editor: I am surprised by this number (it is at the 5:50 mark in the above video) .... I thought the number was much lower. Also interesting .... not one news service (with the exception of Russia's Sputnik) is carrying this story. There is also no mention of this number in the U.S. Air Force's own summary report .... AF senior leaders brief State of the Air Force (US Air Force).

6 comments:

D.Plowman said...

So it looks like Russia isn't the only nation that doesn't like to report its casualties(Ukraine incursions...

Anonymous said...

The Sputnik article is misleading. She says that 19 airmen have died since late August 2015, not 19 airmen have died while fighting Daesh since August 2015.

I'm curious as to where the 8 airmen were killed by enemy fire. A google search hasn't been able to turn anything up.

War News Updates Editor said...

I did the same thing Anon. I know of only 3 who have died because of combat .... and that is from all the U.S. services. But as to the number 8 .... and only air force personnel .... I am surprised.

Anonymous said...

Yemen perhaps.

Unknown said...

0 to 6 people can die from accidents in a crew of 3,000 in a 6 month period.

So 19 dead does not tell me anything unless I know the circumstances.

B.Poster said...

I thought the number would have been much higher than 19. Perhaps we didn't hear about more out of respect for the families. Such doesn't seem likely as the mefia generally doesn't respect the military or their family members. Still when facing an adversary as capable as ISIS to have had only 19 casualties is remarkable!!