Hi, everybody. This week, we continued our mission to destroy ISIL. This remains1 a difficult fight, and the situation in Syria and Iraq is incredibly complex. ISIL is entrenched2, including in urban areas. It uses innocent civilians3 as human shields. Despite these challenges, I can report that we're making progress. And this week, I directed my team to continue accelerating our campaign on all fronts.
Our 66-member coalition4, including Arab partners, continues to grow stronger. More nations are making more contributions. Every day, our air campaign -- more than 10,000 strikes so far -- continues to destroy ISIL forces. And we continue to go after ISIL leaders and commanders -- taking them out, day in, day out, one after another after another.
In Iraq, ISIL has now lost more than 40 percent of the areas it once controlled. In Syria, a coalition of local forces is tightening5 the squeeze on ISIL's stronghold of Raqqa. As we bomb its oil infrastructure6, ISIL's been forced to slash7 the salaries of its fighters. Thanks to the work of many nations, the flow of foreign terrorist fighters into Syria finally appears to be slowing. In short, in Syria and Iraq, ISIL's territory is shri
