US Daily Cost to Fight Islamic State Rose by $700,000: Pentagon

Topic: Violence Erupts as Islamic State Rises

Pentagon building is the headquartes of US Department of Defense situated in Virginia state near Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, October 28 (RIA Novosti) –The cost of fighting the Islamic State (IS) has gone up $700,000 a day for the United States, a US Pentagon source has told RIA Novosti.

"The costs are rising," a Pentagon official, who did not wish to be identified, said Monday.

According to the Pentagon, the cost of fighting IS on a daily basis rose from $7.6 to 8.3 million a day after the costs were recalculated.

The total overall cost has reached $580 million up from $424 million since the US began air strikes on August 6 of this year, the source noted.

Still, the cost estimate is only for the time period of August 6 through October 16. Additional costs will be added as the conflict with IS proceeds, the Pentagon confirmed.

The Islamic State, which is a Sunni jihadi group, has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.

The US is leading a coalition of countries fighting IS after the group began taking territory in both Iraq and Syria this past summer.

Since the August 6 air strikes against IS began, two American journalists and a British aid worker have been beheaded by the Jihadist group. IS has claimed the beheading came in retaliation for the air strikes against them.