Two US service members killed in anti-ISIS operation in northern Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two US service personnel were killed during an operation against Islamic State (ISIS) remnants in a mountainous region of northern Iraq on Sunday, the US-led coalition said in a statement Monday.

“Two US service members were killed by the enemy while advising and accompanying Iraqi Special Forces during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq,” the coaliton said in a statement emailed to Rudaw.

The operation took place in the Qarachogh Mountains, near the disputed town of Makhmour. 

Eyewitnesses told Rudaw on Sunday the coalition provided air cover with warplanes and attack helicopters, with soldiers rappelling down on ropes.

Twenty-five ISIS militants were killed and nine tunnels destroyed in the operation, according to an Iraqi defense ministry spokesman. 

The territories disputed between the federal government and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region have become a hotbed for the ongoing ISIS resurgence. 

ISIS seized vast swathes of Syria and northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, including Mosul and other large Sunni-majority cities.

Despite its territorial defeat in Iraq in December 2017, ISIS sleeper cells have continued to attack civilians and conduct hit-and-run attacks against Iraqi forces, the Peshmerga, and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the disputed territories. 

Kurdish officials have repeatedly warned about the resurgence of ISIS in Makhmour.

The latest Pentagon Inspector General report, covering October 1 to December 31, said ISIS remnants are still active, capable of conducting small-scale attacks, and enjoy freedom of movement in Iraq’s isolated mountains and deserts.

“ISIS maintained both freedom of movement and the ability to hide and transport fighters and materiel in rural areas where [the Iraqi Security Forces] presence is less intense and ISIS can more easily avoid detection and capture,” the Lead Inspector General report said.

“ISIS retains enough manpower and planning capabilities to conduct regular small-scale attacks or ambushes against the ISF, the PMF, or local civilians accused of aiding the ISF or informing on ISIS activities.”