US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that its forces in the Middle East carried out a “series of strikes” against several ISIS sites in Syria earlier this week, in an operation that killed up to ‘to 35 terrorists.
The operation, which targeted several camps across Syria on Monday evening, also succeeded in eliminating “several” senior ISIS leaders, CENTCOM confirmed.
The statement also confirmed that no civilian casualties were “indicated” during the large-scale strikes.
U.S. Army soldiers prepare to go on patrol from a remote combat outpost, May 25, 2021, in northeastern Syria. (John Moore/Getty Images)
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“Airstrikes will disrupt ISIS’s ability to plan, organize and carry out attacks against civilians, as well as the United States, its allies and partners throughout the region and beyond,” the command said in a press release. “CENTCOM, alongside its allies and partners in the region, will continue to aggressively degrade ISIS operational capabilities to ensure its lasting defeat.”
The announcement comes a week after two US service members were injured in Iraq during an operation that targeted and killed at least seven ISIS members.
The American soldiers are said to be in stable condition.
Syrian Kurdish security forces await the release of former detainees suspected of being members of the Islamic State (IS) group in Hasakah, northeast Syria, September 2, 2024. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
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Although ISIS remains a major security concern in Iraq and Syria, it does not pose the same level of threat it did a decade ago. However, concerns grew earlier this year following reports that the United States could consider withdrawing its troops from the country as early as 2025.
American soldiers have been fighting ISIS alongside coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since the terrorist group emerged in 2014.
Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops remain in Syria, while about 2,500 remain in Iraq.
Iraqi army soldiers celebrate their victory by holding an Islamic State group flag that they captured during a military operation to regain control of a village outside Mosul, November 29, 2016. Ten years after the Islamic State group declared its caliphate across much of Iraq. and in Syria, extremists now control no territory, have lost many prominent founding leaders, and are mostly out of the world’s headlines. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, file)
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Last month, the Pentagon said it plans to change its “footprint” in Iraq in 2025, but it declined to detail what that means in terms of how many troops will remain.
U.S. and Iraqi coalition forces will also continue to support anti-ISIS efforts in Syria as Washington works with Baghdad to determine future steps for U.S. troops’ fight against the terrorist network in the region.
