Seven US troops injured during Iraq raid that killed 15 ISIS operatives
By Haley Britzky, Mary Kay Mallonee and Hamdi Alkhshali, CNN
(CNN) — Seven US troops were injured in a raid in Iraq on Thursday that killed 15 ISIS members, three defense officials said.
Five of the personnel were wounded during the operation, with one evacuated for further treatment. Two other US personnel were injured “from falls during the operation,” the officials said, with one having to be evacuated “out of theater for follow on care.”
All of the injured personnel are stable.
NBC News was first to report on the injured US troops.
The early morning raid came after months of intelligence-gathering, the Iraqi military said Saturday. It said that the ISIS militants were found in four locations in western Iraq and that following the raid, an airborne unit was dropped into the locations.
The 15 ISIS operatives who were killed were “armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts,” US Central Command said in a statement Friday. The Iraqi military, meanwhile, said after a search of the hideout location that 14 militants were killed.
The Iraqi military also said two other suspected militants were stopped as they tried to flee the scene, and an investigation revealed they were attempting to “transport important documents and other materials that were in their possession.”
There was no indication of any civilian casualties, CENTCOM said.
“This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” according to the statement.
The US military said Iraqi security forces are working “to further exploit the locations raided,” as ISIS remains a “threat to the region, our allies, as well as our homeland.” CENTCOM said the US will continue to aggressively pursue ISIS operatives with coalition and Iraqi partners.
President Joe Biden, who is vacationing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, has been briefed on the raid, according to a US official.
CNN reported earlier this month that Iraq has postponed announcing an end date for Operation Inherent Resolve, the US military operation combating ISIS, due to “recent developments,” raising questions about the future of US troops’ presence in the Gulf state amid heightened tension in the region.
The US has roughly 2,500 troops in Iraq who have been operating in an “advise and assist” capacity since December 2021, when the US military announced the end of its combat role there.
The Middle East has grappled with heightened tensions in recent months amid the Israel-Hamas war and as the US braces for a potential Iranian attack on Israel over the July killing of a Hamas political leader in Tehran. Iran says the assassination was carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
The US Department of Defense announced earlier this month it would send a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East in preparation for a possible retaliation. And US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided-missile submarine and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the region.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Sam Fossum and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.
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