American and Iraqi commandos raided Islamic State hideouts in western Iraq last week, killing at least 14 ISIS fighters in the country’s most extensive counterterrorism mission in recent years.
Seven US soldiers were wounded as more than 200 troops from both countries, including back-up forces, hunted the fighters in remote terrain bunkers, US and Iraqi officials said, citing the size, scope and focus of the mission. The resurgence of terrorist organizations in recent months.
They said a senior rebel commander overseeing Islamic State operations in the Middle East and Europe was a prime target.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders, disrupting and degrading ISIS’s ability to plan, organize and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians as well as US, allies and partners throughout the region and beyond,” the military’s Central Command said in a statement. .” on sunday.
American officials have declined to identify targeted ISIS leaders, including senior militants, pending DNA analysis of the bodies.
The joint operation in Anbar province comes even as Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani and Iraqi military commanders say they can contain the ISIS threat without US-led support. Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that would end the mission of the US-led military coalition in Iraq. There are about 2,500 US troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria.
However, the Central Command announced in July that the number of attacks claimed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria had doubled this year compared to the previous year. ISIS claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in the two countries in the first half of 2024, the command said.
“Iraq has been able to successfully contain the ISIS challenge in recent years, with the group’s operational tempo at an all-time low – but the significant resurgence of ISIS on the sidelines in Syria is a cause for serious concern,” said Charles Lister. Syria and Counter-Terrorism Programs of the Middle East Organization.
“Thus, if we are to avoid the potential spread of ISIS from Syria to Iraq, deep in the Anbar desert there are these long-standing safe havens of ISIS that will require continued passage,” Mr. Lister said.
According to a senior US military official, the United States and other allied forces have helped Iraqi forces conduct more than 250 counter-terrorism missions since last October.
But the raid was unusual in the heavy presence of American commandos – more than 100 US special operations forces and other troops along with a smaller number of Iraqi soldiers – in the initial helicopter assault early Thursday, American officials said.
Iraqi officials said In a statement That the operation began east of the riverbed that runs through the Anbar desert, in an area southwest of Fallujah, which they call Al Hazimi.
Fierce fighting ensued, in which Iraq said 14 ISIS fighters were killed; The United States put the death toll at 15 insurgents. ISIS fighters were armed with “numerous firearms, grenades and explosive ‘suicide belts,'” the Central Command said in a statement late Friday. The command said there was no indication of civilian casualties.
As American surveillance drones kept watch, more than 100 Iraqi forces raided the next day, capturing two more ISIS militants who fled the scene overnight with ISIS paperwork and financial information, Mr. Lister and U.S. officials said.
“Another victory added to the record of victory against terrorism by the heroes of our armed forces,” Brig. Iraqi army spokesman General Yahya Rasool said that a Statement on X.
The Iraqi government rarely mentions the US role in operations targeting the Islamic State. The Iraqi military’s statement about this latest mission barely acknowledged US involvement, noting that the operation was carried out with “intelligence and technical support and coordination from the international coalition”.
Over the weekend, while meeting with top US commander Maj. Gen. Kevin Leahy in Baghdad, Mr. Sudani said that “the remnants of ISIS are no longer a threat to the Iraqi state, because they have become isolated groups hiding in remote areas. Areas to avoid capture.”
He noted that the Iraqi armed forces were “continuing their operations to locate the remaining terrorists and their hideouts,” according to a statement Posted by the Prime Minister’s Media Office.
Mr. Sudani, who is expected to seek a second term as prime minister, is under pressure from Iran, which borders Iraq, and Iran’s allies inside Iraq to sharply reduce the US military presence in the country.
During last week’s operation, Central Command said, five US personnel were injured, including a soldier who was evacuated for further treatment. Two other US service members were injured in the falls during the mission, with one soldier being transported for additional treatment. American officials said some injuries were apparently caused by shrapnel from the explosion, but none were life-threatening.
NBC News reported earlier US service members were injured in the raid.
At its peak, ISIS was as large as a caliphate, or religious state Britainextending from the Levant to Southeast Asia with more than 40,000 fighters From more than 80 countries. He sought to enforce his extreme interpretation of Islam, including attacking religious minority groups and punishing Muslims deemed apostates.
A coalition of over 80 countries It was formed to fight the group led by the United States, which lost its grip on territory under its control in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
However, the militants continue to operate in Iraq and Syria’s Anbar desert, with about 2,500 fighters still present there, American officials said.
On Monday, the Central Command announced that US-backed US and Syrian Democratic Forces troops in northeast Syria had captured ISIS leader Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal, who was helping five ISIS fighters who escaped from a detention center in Raqqa, Syria. Two of the ISIS fighters who escaped were recaptured; Three others are absconding, the army said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, with help from the United States, are holding more than 9,000 ISIS detainees at more than 20 detention facilities in northeastern Syria. ISIS leaders have repeatedly attempted to release fighters from prison and reorganize their militant ranks. Another 43,000 people, including family members of ISIS fighters, are being held in Al Hall and Al Roj camps in the same region, according to the Central Command.
American counterterrorism experts have long expressed concern that the camps have become incubators for the next generation of Islamic extremists.
Central Command leader General Michael E. “If a large number of these ISIS fighters escape, it will pose a grave threat to the region and beyond,” Kurila said in a statement on Monday.
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