US, Iraqi forces raid targeting Islamic State group militants kills 15 in western desert
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military took part in an Iraqi attack in the west of the country that killed 15 people. The attack was carried out by troops targeting suspected Islamic State militants, the U.S. military said Saturday morning.
For years, U.S. forces have continued the fight against the Islamic State group, after driving the militants from their self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But the casualties in Friday’s attack were higher than in previous attacks.
The US military’s Central Command claimed the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades and explosive ‘suicide belts'” during the attack, which Iraqi forces said took place in the Anbar desert.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’s ability to plan, organize, and execute attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners in the region and beyond,” Central Command said, using an acronym for the militant group. “Iraqi security forces continue to exploit the locations that were raided.”
It added: “There are no indications of civilian casualties.”
A statement from the Iraqi military said “airstrikes on the shelters took place, followed by an airborne operation.”
At its height, the Islamic State ruled over an area half the size of the United Kingdom, where it sought to impose its extreme interpretation of Islam, including attacks on minority religious groups and harsh punishments for Muslims deemed apostates.
A coalition of more than 80 countries, led by the United States, was formed to combat the group, which lost its grip on territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019. However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar desert in Iraq and Syria, while claiming attacks elsewhere in the world. The Islamic State branch in Afghanistan has a reputation for carrying out particularly bloody attacks.
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Jon Gambrell, Associated Press editor in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.