BAGHDAD – The United States military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country's western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday.
For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria, U.S. forces have fought the Islamic State group, though the casualties from this raid were higher than in previous ones.
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The U.S. military's Central Command said the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the raid Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the Anbar Desert.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” Central Command said, using an acronym for the militant group. “Iraqi Security Forces continue to further exploit the locations raided.”
It added: “There is no indication of civilian casualties.”
An Iraqi military statement said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.”
“Among the dead were key ISIS leaders,” Iraq's military said, without identifying them. "All hideouts, weapons and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated and important documents, identification papers and communication devices were seized.”
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation yet to be made public, told The Associated Press that five American troops were wounded in the raid, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation. One who suffered a fall was transported out of the region, while one of the wounded was evacuated for further treatment, the official said.
“All personnel are in stable condition,” the official said.
It wasn’t immediately clear why it took two days for the U.S. to acknowledge it took part in the raid. Iraq did not say the U.S. took part in the operation when initially announcing it, as politicians debate the future of having American troops in the country. There are approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Since the U.S. toppled dictator Saddam Hussein with its 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country has struggled to balance relations between America and neighboring Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Iraqi militias allied to Iran have targeted U.S. forces there, leading to American airstrikes targeting them.
At its peak, the Islamic State group ruled an area half the size of the U.K. It attempted to enforce its extreme interpretation of Islam, which included attacks on religious minority groups and harsh punishment of Muslims deemed to be apostates.
A coalition of more than 80 countries led by the United States was formed to fight the group, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar Desert in Iraq and Syria, while claiming attacks carried out by others elsewhere in the world inspired by the group. That includes the two suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna. Meanwhile, the IS branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults.
Last month, the U.S. military said the number of attacks claimed by IS in Syria and Iraq was on track to double this year, compared with the year before. IS claimed 153 attacks in the two countries in the first six months of 2024, compared with 121 attacks in all of 2023.
Iraqi officials say that they can keep the IS threat under control with their own forces and have entered into talks with the U.S. aimed at winding down the mission of the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October, U.S. military presence in the region has become particularly contentious.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has periodically launched drone attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza and were aimed at forcing U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq.
NBC News first reported on injuries for U.S. forces involved in the raid.
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Associated Press staff writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Boston contributed to this report.