The Pentagon disclosed that the U.S-led coalition carried out 17 airstrikes against the terror group Islamic State (ISIS) on Christmas Day.
In a statement released on Saturday, the U.S military agency said the airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters, facilities and vehicles were carried out by fighter aircraft, bombers and remotely controlled aircraft. Five of the airstrikes were launched in Syria and 12 in Iraq.
In Syria, the coalition military forces targeted ISIS militants near Ar Raqqah, Manbij and Mar'a, NBC news reported.
In Iraq, the air campaigns focused on ISIS fighting positions near five cities, including Ramadi, where several vehicles were destroyed. In Sinjar, the strikes destroyed three bridges being used by the militants, the statement said.
The airstrikes targeted ISIS tunnels, explosive manufacturing sites and other targets such as bridges and ISIS fighting outposts, officials said.
The Pentagon said the airstrikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation designed to destroy ISIS. All the aircraft returned safely.
Meanwhile, the ISIS on Saturday released a new message purportedly from its reclusive leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, claiming that his self-styled ''caliphate'' is doing well despite an unprecedented alliance against it, the Daily Mail reported.
In the 24-minute audio, al-Baghdadi said airstrikes by the international coalition only increase his group's determination and resolve. The message was al-Bagdadi's first since May, and comes amid battlefield setbacks that ISIS recently faced, the report said.
The group also reportedly criticised the recently formed Saudi-led military coalition against terrorism.
Since intensified airstrikes were launched by the coalition forces and Russia, the ISIS has come under pressure in Syria and Iraq, where is has declared it self-styled Islamic caliphate. It lost the town of Sinjar in Iraq last month, and areas across the border in Syria at the same time.
Iraqi government troops have also partly retaken the ISIS-held city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of the sprawling Anbar province, Iraq's Sunni heartland, reports said.
Air campaign by the U.S-led coalition and Russia in Syria have also destroyed Syrian oil facilities and killed several ISIS leaders in recent weeks.
"It is unprecedented in the history of our Ummah (Islamic nation) that all the world came against it in one battle, as it is happening today. It is the battle of all the disbelievers against all the Muslims,'' al-Baghdadi said, according to the Daily Mail.
He said the U.S-led alliance does "not scare us... nor do they scatter our resolve because we are the victors in any event.''
