ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States army announced on Monday that it killed 12 suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants in airstrikes it carried out in Syria as a part of its efforts to prevent the group from exploiting security vacuums in the country.
“The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS” read a statement from the army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US troops in the Middle East.
CENTCOM noted that the strikes targeted “former regime and Russian controlled areas” to prevent “the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek opportunities to reconstitute in central Syria.”
ISIS cells have taken advantage of the chaos and security vacuums in Syria since the start of the escalations, carrying out hit-and-run attacks and gaining territories in the Syrian desert. The US-led coalition against ISIS and its ally, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have sought to keep the militants from regaining their footing in the new security landscape.
The SDF has recently come under attack by the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), which is part of a broader coalition of militia groups that joined forces against the now-collapsed regime of Bashar al-Assad. Due to the attacks, the SDF has been unable to continue its operations against ISIS.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that he discussed with Turkey the need for the SDF to continue fighting ISIS.
“CENTCOM, working with allies and partners in the region, will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” the statement cited its commander, General Michael Erik Kurilla, as saying.
The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led a lightning-quick offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs before capturing the capital Damascus as Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule in less than two weeks and bringing the country’s 13-year long civil war to an end.
