US vows to continue fight against IS militants

A senior coalition commander said the US Army vows to continue the fight against Islamic State militants as it maintains its partnership with and training of the Iraqi security forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria.

"Our mission here in Iraq and Syria under Operation Inherent Resolve has remained unchanged," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Eric T. Hill, who is the commander of Special Operations Joint Task Force- Operation Inherent Resolve.

He said IS militants were still in hiding, and that they may try to take opportunity from what happened in Iraq, referring to the US drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassim Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis.

The attack brought US-Iranian tensions to a boil and saw the region sit on the brink of war.

Maj. Gen. Hill said the coalition was making sure to maintain the pressure on IS militants and preventing them from resurfacing.

He said the US was working in Syria on protecting the oil infrastructure to secure oil revenue for its partner there; the SDF, and to help them maintain their efforts in detaining some 12,000 IS members in their prisons.

"We are concerned greatly with the prisons and the detainees that we have."

He said the US Army was working with the international community to try and come up with solutions to the problem of the detainees.