The US says its navy forces in Iraq have killed 15 Islamic State (IS) “operatives” in a joint operation with Iraqi Safety Forces that focused the militant group’s management.
US Central Command (Centcom) mentioned it had carried out the joint operation in western Iraq early on Thursday.
American and Iraqi troops have been met by IS members outfitted with “quite a few weapons, grenades and explosive ‘suicide’ belts”, it mentioned in a press release. “There isn’t a indication of civilian casualties.”
In the meantime, US media quoted US defence officers as saying that seven American troops have been injured. Centcom has not commented on this.
The Iraqi navy mentioned in an earlier assertion that “air strikes focused the hideouts, adopted by an airborne operation” within the nation’s “desert and caves”.
“All hideouts, weapons, and logistical help have been destroyed, explosive belts have been safely detonated and essential paperwork, identification papers and communication units have been seized.”
The White Home Nationwide Safety Council and the Pentagon referred the BBC to Centcom for remark.
Centcom mentioned it had focused members of IS management in an effort to “disrupt and degrade” the group’s means to plan, organise and assault Individuals, Iraqis and allies inside and outdoors the area.
There are roughly 2,500 US troops at present in Iraq, although they continue to be there in an “advise and help” capability because the US navy introduced the top of its fight effort within the nation in December 2021.
Iraq introduced on 15 August that it could postpone a deliberate end-date for the US navy operations within the nation.
Thursday’s operation follows a latest assault in Germany and a plot in Austria which are being investigated for his or her hyperlinks to IS.
Authorities mentioned that the suspect behind the deliberate assault on a Taylor Swift live performance in Vienna – a 19-year-old Austrian citizen – had pleged allegiance to the Islamic State earlier than concentrating on the singer’s Eras tour.
Intelligence offered by the CIA to Austrian authorities allowed them to disrupt the plot and save “a whole bunch of lives” , the company’s deputy director David Cohen mentioned on Wednesday.
It additionally follows an assault in Solingen, Germany, wherein three individuals died and eight others have been wounded.
The assault has prompted outrage in Germany forward of state elections, and the homicide suspect – Issa Al H, 26 – is being investigated for his hyperlinks to IS.
Earlier this summer time, the militant group took some duty for a uncommon taking pictures assault close to a Shia Muslim mosque in Oman’s capital, Muscat. Six individuals – together with a policeman – have been killed and 28 others injured.
The Islamic State as soon as had a powerful foothold in Iraq and Syria, however a US-led coalition of greater than 70 international locations largely drove them out from the bodily caliphate they’d created there.
The BBC’s Frank Gardner reported in June that intelligence-sharing between police forces and safety companies had largely quelled IS’s co-ordinated assaults in European cities.
However the jihadist propaganda it continues to provide on-line nonetheless has the power to encourage extremists who’re radicalised by it, he reported.
A senior Whitehall official in London described the standing of the group as “down however not out”.