Although Iraq declared its “victory” against ISIS at the end of 2017, jihadist cells remain active in the country and continue to sporadically attack the army and the police, particularly in rural areas.
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The US military raid was carried out on August 29 in Iraq, in coordination with Iraqi security forces. Washington announced on Friday September 13 that it had killed four leaders of the Islamic State group (IS) in the west of the country, including the head of the terrorist organization’s operations in the country. “This operation targeted IS leaders and served to disrupt and diminish IS’s ability to organize and conduct operations,” The US military’s Middle East Command (Centcom) said, adding that 14 IS members were killed in total in the raid.
“Centcom remains committed to ensuring the defeat of the Islamic State, which continues to threaten the United States, our allies and partners, and regional stability,” said Centcom chief Gen. Erik Kurilla.
Two days after the raid, the US military announced that seven American soldiers had been wounded in a large-scale operation in the west of the country. Iraqi intelligence services then claimed that the operation came after “more than two months of surveillance using human and technological means”having made it possible to locate “four reception houses” used by ISIS. They also said it was likely that “high-ranking leaders” were among those killed in the raid.
According to Centcom, the four men killed were Ahmad Hamid Hussein Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, head of operations in Iraq, Abu Hammam, head of operations in the west of the country, Abu-Ali al-Tunisi, head of technical development, and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, head of military operations in western Iraq.
Iraq has declared its “victory” against ISIS in late 2017, but jihadist cells remain active in the country and continue to sporadically attack army and police forces, particularly in rural and remote areas outside major cities. The United States deploys approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and nearly 900 in Syria, as part of the international coalition created in 2014 to fight the jihadist group. The alliance includes troops from several other countries, including France and the United Kingdom.