How Strong Is ISIS In 2017? Islamic State Fighters Being Wiped Out From Mosul And Raqqa Faster Than They Can Sustain

The U.S-led coalition effort against the Islamic State group is wiping off its fighters at a faster pace than the group can replace them, said Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, deputy commander for the Combined Joint Task Force coalition, the New York Times reported Tuesday. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces Tuesday fought their way to within the firing range of Mosul's main government buildings, a major target in the offensive to remove ISIS militants from their remaining stronghold in the western side of the city, Reuters reported.

More than 45,000 fighters had been killed by coalition strikes up to August last year, according to Jones.

"We are killing Daesh at a rate that they simply can't sustain," Jones said, using an Arabic acronym for the militant group. "The enemy cannot sustain the attrition that they are suffering and therefore they lose terrain, they lose battles."

Early last month, the top American commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, said that U.S.-backed forces will recapture ISIS' two major strongholds — the cities of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq — within the next six months, the Associated Press reported.

Although the ISIS battle will not be over even with the group's fall in Mosul or Raqqa, it would be the beginning of the end, Jones said, according to the Times.

"The inevitability of their destruction just becomes really a matter of time," he said, adding that the group's leadership was now focused on little more than survival.

Despite news of ISIS losing out on its territories in Iraq and Syria, U.S. military leaders have warned that the militant group might turn into a more classic insurgency once it loses Raqqa and Mosul, which means that the broader fight could go on till years.

The news comes soon after Defense Secretary James Mattis detailed a plan on how to intensify the fight against the extremist group, CNBC reported Monday. According to analysts, the preliminary plan could lead to the increase of troops in Syria from the current authorized number of 500 to 5,000.