Islamic State 'no weaker' after a year of US airstrikes
A year-long US-led bombing campaign against Islamic State has left the group no weaker, American intelligence agencies have said.
More than 10,000 IS militants have been killed in the multi-billion dollar military campaign, which is credited with preventing the collapse of Iraq and putting increasing pressure on the extremist group.
But the CIA, the Defence Intelligence Agency and others see the overall situation as a strategic stalemate, with IS able to produce extremists as quickly as the US eliminates them.
The group has also expanded its presence in Libya, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.
"We've seen no meaningful degradation in their numbers," a defence official said.
Intelligence officials estimate that the group's total strength is between 20,000 and 30,000 - the same as last August when the air strikes began.
Although officials do not believe the group is planning complex attacks on the West from its territory, its call to Western Muslims to kill at home has become a serious problem, FBI director James Comey and others say.
Analysts believe that it could take 10 years to drive IS from its safe havens under the current campaign of bombing and training.
However, the Obama administration is adamant that it will commit no US ground troops to the fight, despite calls from some in Congress to do so.
How the US-led coalition has gained ground against IS:
May: A Delta Force raid in Syria killed IS financier Abu Sayyaf, resulting in valuable intelligence about the group's structure and finances
June: The US-backed alliance captured the border town of Tal Abyad, which had been the militants' most vital direct supply route from Turkey
June: The Kurds took the town of Ein Issa, a hub for IS movements and supply lines only 35 miles north of Raqqa
July: A wave of strikes in 24 hours destroyed 18 flyovers and a number of roads used by the group in and around Raqqa
IS has lost 9.4% of its territory in the first six months of 2015, according to an analysis by the conflict monitoring group IHS
The well-funded group has seized Ramadi, a strategically important provincial capital in Iraq and American-led efforts to train Syrian rebels to fight IS have produced only 60 vetted fighters.
IS fighters have also switched tactics in the face of US bombing campaigns that try to avoid civilian casualties, by embedding themselves among women and children.
By one estimate, IS earns £320 million a year from oil sales, on top of as much as £641 million in cash the group seized from banks in its territory.