A top U.S. diplomat strayed from a long-held wartime taboo Wednesday when he reported that 10,000 ISIS militants had been killed in Iraq and Syria, raising questions about how that number was compiled and whether it accurately reflected a U.S.-led coalition’s success against the Islamic terror group.
“We have seen a lot of losses within Daesh since the start of this campaign, more than 10,000,” Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on France Inter radio, using an alternate name for ISIS. “It will end up having an impact.”
Blinken made the remarks as a stand-in for Secretary of State John Kerry at a Paris meeting of coalition members …
Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Undoing Constitutional Right to Abortion
- What the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Means for Your State
- The Failure of the Feminist Industrial Complex
- The Fight Over Abortion Has Only Just Begun
- Column: How Stereotypes Shape the Language People Use
- Everything We Know About Beyoncé's New Album, Renaissance
- Homes Made from Straw or Fungi Can Now Get You a Cheaper Mortgage in the Netherlands
- Going on Vacation This Summer? Welcome to the 'Revenge Travel' Economy
Read More From TIME