United States warplanes have destroyed more than 100 tanker trucks in eastern Syria believed to be smuggling oil for the Islamic State group, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The oil smuggling business is a source of an estimated daily revenue of USD 1.0 M for the jihadist organization, which uses the proceeds from illegal oil sales to fund its military operations and recruit fighters.

The trucks were destroyed on Sunday near Albu Kamal, a town held by the Islamic militants in Deir Ezzour province along Syria's border with Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said.

It was the first time US warplanes have hit vehicles used to carry oil for the IS group - a step that has so far been avoided due to concerns about killing civilian drivers of the trucks who may or may not be members of the jihadist organisation.

Now, two F-15 warplanes dropped fliers before the strikes, warning drivers to leave their trucks first.

By bombing the tanker trucks the US military is trying to destroy the main lifeline of the terror group – its illicit oil-smuggling business.  

The airstrikes on tanker trucks were conducted in the wake of the multiple deadly attacks in Paris on Friday which claimed the lives of 129 people and left more than 350 injured.

The new campaign is named Tidal Wave II after the WWII operation of the Allies aimed to cripple Nazi Germany’s war machine by destroying oil fields and refineries in Romania, the New York Times said in its coverage of the news.   

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