The operation went almost without a hitch. Swooping low over the horizon in the early dawn light, the helicopters disgorged their cargo of commandos into a dried-out riverbed.

Surveillance drones guided them successfully to the enemy’s remote hideouts. The resistance was intense, the insurgents they encountered wore suicide belts and hurled grenades.

But after hours of fierce fighting, the mission was clearly a success. Among the 14 enemy dead were four of the movement’s leaders.

What may sound like an encounter between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters in the hills of southern Lebanon was actually a battle in the desert of western Iraq between US-led forces and militants from the resurgent militant group Isis.

With 100 US Special Forces personnel fighting alongside Iraqi troops, the mission on Aug 29 was the largest mounted by the US in Iraq for years.

But while it yielded significant breakthroughs, including the killing of Ahmed al-Ithawi, the top Isis commander in Iraq, the fact that such an operation was needed at all is a sign that the drums of global jihadism are again sounding around the world.