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Report | May 6, 2016

Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve | Quarterly Report to the United States Congress | March 31, 2016

 This Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) report to United States Congress on Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is our fifth quarterly report detailing the overseas contingency operation.  The report provides information on key events involving OIR as well as an update on the nine Strategic Lines of Effort to Counter ISIL covering the period from January 1, 2016, to March 31, 2016. The report also features oversight work conducted by the Lead IG agencies and partner oversight agencies from October 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, and ongoing and future oversight work, as of March 31, 2016.  Going forward, the Lead IG report will provide oversight information every quarter instead of on a biannual basis.

OIR is dedicated to countering the terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, Syria, the region, and the broader international community. The U.S. strategy to counter ISIL includes support to military operations associated with OIR as well as diplomacy, governance, security programs and activities, and, separately, humanitarian assistance.

As our report describes in more detail, since January 1, 2016, U.S.-backed forces have stabilized the recently-liberated Iraqi city of Ramadi, engaged ISIL in a battle for the important town of Hit in Anbar province, and continued preparations to free the key city of Mosul. As of early April, about 20,000 Iraqi soldiers had completed at least one multi-week cycle of Coalition training.

Section 8L of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, provides a mandate for the three Lead IG agencies—the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG), Department of State Office of Inspector General (DoS OIG), and U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG)—to work together to develop and carry out joint, comprehensive, and strategic oversight. Each IG retains statutory independence, but together, they apply their extensive regional experience and in-depth institutional knowledge to conduct oversight of the whole-of-government mission to destroy ISIL and address the severe humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria.

During the period October 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, the Lead IG agencies released 11 reports. There were also 36 ongoing oversight projects. In addition, the criminal investigative components of the DoD, DoS, and USAID OIGs had 35 ongoing investigations.