The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday that 15 Islamic State group militants were killed in a joint operation by US and Iraqi forces in western Iraq, and seven American soldiers were injured during the operation.
Centcom said on social media platform X that the raid targeted Islamic State leaders and was carried out on Thursday morning, resulting in “the deaths of 15 ISIS terrorists” and “no indications of civilian casualties.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces and Iraqi security forces conducted a joint raid in western Iraq on the morning of August 29, resulting in the deaths of 15 ISIS operatives. The ISIS elements were equipped with a number of weapons, grenades, and explosive “suicide” belts. There… pic.twitter.com/fCOFyxtke1
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 31, 2024
It said the IS members were “armed with numerous weapons, grenades and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” and that Iraqi forces were “further exploiting the raided locations”, clarifying only that the operation took place in western Iraq.
Five US soldiers were wounded during the raid and two others were injured by a fall, a defense official said. One of the injured was evacuated for treatment, while another soldier injured by a fall was also evacuated for treatment.
The condition of all seven is stable, the official said.
“ISIS continues to pose a threat to the region, our allies, and our homeland. U.S. CENTCOM, in collaboration with our coalition and Iraqi partners, will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists,” Centcom said.
The operation comes at a time when Baghdad and Washington have been in talks for months over the presence of anti-jihadist coalition forces in Iraq.
Despite Iraq’s stated goal of a complete withdrawal of military forces, no timeline has been made public.
The United States has about 2,500 troops deployed in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group.
Coalition forces in both Iraq and Syria have been targeted dozens of times by drone and rocket attacks, while violence related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since early October has also attracted Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.
Last winter, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a loose coalition of Iran-backed groups, launched about 175 rocket and drone attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria.
The US military has carried out several retaliatory strikes against these militant groups in both countries.
Thursday’s raid comes nearly a week after US forces killed a senior leader of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group in Syria.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)