The U.S. military carried out airstrikes in Syria this week, which it said killed up to 35 ISIS terrorists.
U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that the series of strikes, which were conducted Monday evening local time, hit multiple locations in the “Syrian desert, targeting multiple ISIS senior leaders.” The military said there were no indications any civilians were injured or killed in the airstrikes.
Monday’s strikes “will disrupt the ability of ISIS to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians, as well as U.S., allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” CENTCOM’s announcement said. “CENTCOM, alongside allies and partners in the region, will continue to aggressively degrade ISIS operational capabilities to ensure its enduring defeat.”
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U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria are there to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS, and they have, with their Iraqi and Syrian allies, respectively, carried out several missions this fall.
U.S. forces, along with their Iraqi counterparts, conducted an operation in Anbar province against ISIS fighters on Oct. 24, according to the Pentagon, in addition to carrying out strikes and follow-on raids on multiple ISIS locations in central Iraq on Oct. 22, which killed “at least seven” terrorists. Two U.S. service members were injured in the Oct. 22 raids, and they were flown back to the United States for care at Walter Reed Medical Center.
“U.S. Central Command, alongside our coalition and Iraqi partners, will aggressively pursue ISIS and other terrorists that pose a threat to US forces, allies, partners, and security in the region,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said last week.
Iraqi Security Forces carried out airstrikes in northeastern Iraq on Oct. 14 that targeted and killed Shahadhah ‘Allawi Salih ‘Ulaywi al-Bajjari, also known as Abu Issa, who the U.S. believed to be ISIS’s most senior leader in northern Iraq. Three other ISIS members were killed in these strikes.
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The U.S. has around 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq as part of the international anti-ISIS coalition that was established ten years ago and is being reshaped by U.S. and Iraqi officials. ISIS no longer holds nearly as much territory as it did a decade ago, but it continues to pose a threat.
CENTCOM announced in July that ISIS was on pace to carry out more than double the number of attacks in Iraq and Syria in 2024 than it did in 2023.