American and Syrian forces conduct airstrikes on ISIS weapons storage facilities, US military says

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Sunday that it recently destroyed 15 sites containing Islamic State weapons caches in southern Syria.

U.S. Central Command said it and Syrian forces identified and destroyed the storage facilities across the Rif Damashq province during multiple airstrikes and ground detonations that were conducted from November 24 to November 27.

“The combined operation destroyed over 130 mortars and rockets, multiple assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank mines, and materials for building improvised explosive devices,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

Islamic State, the militant group that once imposed hardline Islamist rule over millions of people in Syria and Iraq, was largely crushed by a U.S.-led coalition several years ago, but has managed to rebuild and regroup.

Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said on Sunday the operation “ensures gains made against ISIS are lasting.”

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to do everything he could to make Syria successful after November 10 talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who until recently was sanctioned by Washington as a foreign terrorist.

Syria carried out nationwide pre-emptive operations targeting Islamic State cells in the days before the talks in Washington, the Syrian government said at the time.

One of Sharaa’s chief aims in the meeting with Trump was to push for full removal of the toughest U.S. sanctions against the country.

During the meeting, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a 180-day extension of its suspension of enforcement of the so-called Caesar sanctions, but only the U.S. Congress can lift them entirely.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Ted Hesson; Editing by Diane Craft and Chris Reese)