Seven US troopers have been injured; Iraq’s navy says air strikes killed key members of the group.
The US navy 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 happened on Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in an announcement 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 navy official instructed The Related Press information company. “All personnel are in secure situation,” the official stated.
“ISIS stays a risk 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 navy 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 assist have been destroyed, explosive belts have been safely detonated and essential paperwork, identification papers and communication gadgets have been seized.”
The top date for the US-led coalition’s mission, stationed each in Iraq and Syria as a presence in opposition to ISIL, was not too long ago postponed.
In line with the Reuters information company, talks on the topic might 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 in opposition to ISIL.
Coalition forces have been targeted dozens of times with drones and rocket fireplace in each Iraq and Syria, as violence associated to Israel’s conflict in Gaza, which broke out in October 2023, has drawn in Iran-linked armed teams throughout the Center East.
Earlier this month, at the very least 5 US personnel have been injured in an attack in opposition to a navy base in Iraq.
From October to February, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned teams – known 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 earth impressed by the group.