Seven US troopers have been injured; Iraq’s army says air strikes killed key members of the group.
The US army has stated that 15 ISIL (ISIS) fighters have been killed in a joint raid with Iraqi safety forces in western Iraq.
Seven US troopers have been injured within the mixed operation that passed off on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in a press release on Saturday.
The raid got here because the US and Iraq have been in talks about their joint security mission within the nation.
The fighters have been “armed with quite a few weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts”, CENTCOM stated on X.
It didn’t report any civilian casualties.
5 US troopers have been wounded within the operation whereas two others have been harm in falls, a US army official instructed The Related Press information company. “All personnel are in steady situation,” the official stated.
“ISIS stays a menace to the area, our allies, in addition to our homeland,” CENTCOM stated, including that the US “will proceed to aggressively pursue these terrorists” alongside its coalition and Iraqi companions.
Iraq’s army stated, “air strikes focused the hideouts, adopted by an airborne operation”.
“Among the many lifeless have been key [ISIL] leaders,” it added. “All hideouts, weapons, and logistical help have been destroyed, explosive belts have been safely detonated and vital paperwork, identification papers and communication units have been seized.”
The tip date for the US-led coalition’s mission, stationed each in Iraq and Syria as a presence towards ISIL, was not too long ago postponed.
In accordance with the Reuters information company, talks on the topic could not conclude till after the US presidential elections in November.
Iraq hosts about 2,500 US troopers and likewise has Iran-aligned militias linked to its safety forces.
There are about 900 US troopers in Syria as a part of the coalition towards ISIL.
Coalition forces have been targeted dozens of times with drones and rocket hearth in each Iraq and Syria, as violence associated to Israel’s struggle in Gaza, which broke out in October 2023, has drawn in Iran-linked armed teams throughout the Center East.
Earlier this month, not less than 5 US personnel have been injured in an attack towards a army base in Iraq.
From October to February, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned teams – referred to as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – launched common drone assaults on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.
At its peak in 2014, ISIL fighters managed one-third of Iraq and Syria.
A US-led coalition of greater than 80 international locations compelled the group out of its territory in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019.
However some fighters stay in hiding, primarily in distant areas, from the place they proceed to hold out assaults, whereas additionally claiming assaults carried out by others elsewhere on the planet impressed by the group.