Nearly 25 Islamic State fighters killed or captured in Syria, US military says
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 25 members of the Islamic State group have been killed or captured in Syria this month, the U.S. military said Tuesday. Ambush that killed two US soldiers and an American civilian translator.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement on the X channel that 11 missions were carried out and monitored in the last 10 days. First attacks against ISIS Weapons sites and infrastructure that hit 70 targets in central Syria on December 19.
In operations since then, the U.S. military and other forces in the region, including in Syria, have killed at least seven ISIS members, captured others and eliminated four weapons caches, U.S. Central Command said.
“We will not slow down,” Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads the command, said in a statement. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to work with regional partners to root out the ISIS threat to U.S. and regional security.”
The targets ranged from senior ISIS members closely monitored by military officials to lower-level infantry soldiers, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
Increased cooperation between the United States and Syria’s relatively new government means U.S. forces could attack ISIS in parts of the country where they had not previously operated, the official said. Syrian forces have been the driving force behind some operations against the militant group this year, the official added.
The official said it was similar to the U.S. and Iraq’s increased cooperation in the fight against ISIS a decade ago, and that the goal was to ultimately hand over the effort entirely to the Syrians, just as in Iraq.
The latest operations followed a Dec. 13 ambush near the ancient city of Palmyra, where American and Syrian security officials had gathered for lunch. Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter from Michigan While three US soldiers and Syrian security forces were injured, three US soldiers and Syrian security forces were also injured.
Syrian officials said the slain attacker joined the Syrian internal security forces as a base security officer and was recently reassigned due to suspicions that he may have ties to ISIS.
The first retaliatory strike against ISIS targets in Syria, including by warplanes from Jordan, was a major test for relations between the United States and Syria, which have warmed since last year’s attack. Overthrow of autocratic leader Bashar Assad.
President Donald Trump said Syria’s new president: Ahmed al-Sharaa“He was extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
