CENTCOM says conducted 79 anti-ISIS operations in two months

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Monday announced that coalition forces had carried out 79 operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria during the months of September and October, killing 13 and detaining several prominent leaders of the militant group.

A total of 31 ant-ISIS operations were conducted by the US-led coalition forces and other partners in September, resulting in the killing of eight ISIS operatives and the detention of an additional 19, according to a statement from CENTCOM. At least five ISIS operatives were killed and 59 were detained in 48 anti-ISIS operations in October.

“Among those captured by U.S. coalition and partner forces were prominent ISIS leaders and members to include: fighters, facilitators, and members of attack and sleeper cells plotting to release ISIS prisoners held in local prisons with the intent of replenishing their ranks,” said CENTCOM.

The operations in Iraq over the past two months resulted in 10 ISIS operatives killed and 33 detained, while three were killed and 45 were detained in Syria.

The coalition advises and provides aerial assistance to Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against ISIS. 

ISIS seized control of vast swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land in 2014 but was declared territorially defeated in 2017 and 2019 respectively. While the group lacks any territorial presence on the ground, it still continues to pose serious security risks through bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions in both countries.