A coordinated raid in late August between the US military and Iraqi security forces left four leaders of the Islamic State (IS) group in western Iraq dead, including the head of operations in that country, Ahmad Hamid Hussein Abd-Al-Jalil Al-Ithawi.
According to a message published on Friday, December 13 by the US military command for the Middle East (CENTCOM), fourteen members of ISIS were killed in total in this operation carried out on August 29, which was made public the following day, without further details on the number of people killed.
The three other leaders of the organization in Iraq killed were Abu Hammam, head of operations in the west of the country; Abu-Ali Al-Tunisi, director of technical development; and Shakir Abud Ahmad Al-Issawi, responsible for military operations in western Iraq.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders and served to disrupt and undermine ISIS’s capabilities to organize and conduct operations.”Centcom explains.
Two days after the raid, the US military announced that seven American soldiers had been wounded in a large-scale operation carried out with Iraqi security forces against ISIS in the west of the country.
“Ensuring the defeat of the Islamic State”
Iraqi intelligence services then claimed that the operation had taken place after “more than two months of surveillance using human and technological means”having allowed to locate “four foster homes” used by ISIS. They also claimed that it was likely that “senior leaders” are among those killed during the raid.
Iraq proclaimed its “victory” against ISIS in late 2017, but jihadist cells remain active in the country and continue to sporadically attack army and police personnel, particularly in rural and remote areas outside major cities.
The United States has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and nearly 900 in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group. The alliance includes personnel from several other countries, notably France and Britain.
“Centcom remains committed to ensuring the defeat of ISIS, which continues to threaten the United States, our allies and partners, and regional stability.”Centcom chief General Erik Kurilla was quoted in the press release as saying.
