U.S. forces in the Middle East have killed 163 Islamic State group militants and captured another 33 in dozens of operations in Iraq and Syria since late August, U.S. Central Command said in a Monday statement.
Since Aug. 29, more than 95 Defeat ISIS (D-ISIS) operations, some of which included strikes in Syria, “resulted in 163 terrorists killed and 33 captured, including over 30 senior and mid-level ISIS leaders,” according to the command, which oversees American forces in the region.
“These successful operations resulted in the seizure of significant enemy materiel that could aid in future disruptions,” the statement notes, adding that the sustained pressure on ISIS leaders has hindered their ability to operate and to plan attacks.
The U.S. military along with security forces in Iraq and Syria have been involved in near-constant strikes and raids in the two countries as of late in a bid to prevent a resurgence of the terrorist group following its defeat in 2019.
One of the more notable attacks came in late October, when U.S. troops targeted camps in the Syrian desert and several of the group’s senior leaders, killing as many as 35 militants, Central Command said at the time.
Joint American-Iraqi strikes and raids on ISIS locations in central Iraq on Oct. 22 killed at least seven of the group’s operatives.
Two U.S. service members were wounded during that operation by an explosion and had to be transported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, while a third person was assessed for traumatic brain injury.
There are about 900 U.S. forces operating in Syria while roughly another 2,500 are in Iraq participating in a counter-ISIS mission.
“Alongside our coalition and Iraqi partners, we will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists and disrupt their capability to conduct operations against U.S. interests, as well as those of our allies and partners,” Central Command head Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in the statement.
