The U.S. led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Iraq and Syria has killed more than 6,000 fighters including half of the top command of the group, said U.S. diplomatic officials.
According to CNN, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones disclosed the number of fighters killed for the first time as it has not been discussed before.
Jones said that the coalition fighting was having a "devastating" effect in the militant group.
U.S. intelligence believes that there are around 9,000 to 18,000 IS fighters and the number could go up till 31,000.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, however, could not confirm the exact number saying that "thousands" have been killed.