The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State dropped 5,075 bombs during operations in August, the highest total of any month since the three-year campaign against the terrorist group began.
U.S. Air Force Central Command released data detailing military action that the coalition took against ISIS last month, noting that it used a record number of weapons during close-air-support, escort, or interdiction operations, Business Insider reported Wednesday. The previous highest month was June, when the coalition dropped 4,848 bombs.
Already in 2017, the coalition has "released" 32,801 weapons on ISIS, while in all of 2016, it only dropped 30,743 bombs. These numbers do not include the number of bombs dropped by aircraft not under Air Force Central Command's control in Iraq and Syria.
The major uptick in strikes occurred after President Donald Trump took office. Trump had promised on the campaign trail to "bomb the hell out of ISIS," criticizing the Obama administration for not doing more to fight the jihadist group. Trump's secretary of defense, James Mattis, earlier this year requested $3.5 billion more for "preferred munitions" to bomb ISIS.
On Jan. 21, the Trump administration's first full day in power, coalition forces conducted 31 strikes on ISIS targets.
Coalition military operations have increased in both Iraq and Syria in recent months as U.S.-allied forces have taken critical cities and territory from ISIS, including Raqqa, the group's self-declared capital in Syria.