"This operation targeted ISIS leaders and served to disrupt and degrade ISIS' ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians," the United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a statement on X about the August 29 raid.
A total of 14 IS operatives were killed -- revised from the 15 reported previously. Five US troops were wounded, with another two injured in falls.
The four leaders killed were identified as Ahmad al-Ithawi, the operations leader for the Islamic State group in Iraq; Abu Hammam, who oversaw operations in western Iraq; Abu Ali al-Tunisi, who managed technical development; and Shakir al-Issawi, who led the group's military operations in western Iraq, according to CENTCOM.
"CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS, who continues to threaten the United States, our allies and partners, and regional stability," General Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
The operation took place amid ongoing talks between Baghdad and Washington over the presence of anti-jihadist coalition forces in Iraq.
Despite Iraq's stated goal of a full withdrawal of the forces, no timeline has been made public.
The United States has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group.
CENTCOM had previously reported killing an Islamic State member Wednesday during a strike in eastern Syria. The member was reportedly in the process of planting an improvised explosive device when the strike occurred.
Coalition forces have been targeted dozens of times with drones and rocket fire in both Iraq and Syria, as violence related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since early October has drawn in armed groups across the Middle East.
Last winter, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, had claimed about 175 rocket and drone attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria.
US forces have carried out multiple retaliatory strikes against these militant factions in both countries.
Germany arrests Syrian accused of machete attack plot on soldiers
Berlin (AFP) Sept 13, 2024 -
German authorities said Friday they had arrested a 27-year-old Syrian man accused of planning an Islamist attack on army soldiers using two machetes.
The suspect, an "alleged follower of a radical Islamic ideology", was arrested on Thursday on charges of planning "a serious act of violence endangering the state".
The man had acquired two heavy knives "around 40 centimetres (more than one foot) in length" in recent days, prosecutors in Munich said.
He planned to "attack Bundeswehr soldiers" in the city of Hof in northern Bavaria during their lunch break, aiming "to kill as many of them as possible", they said.
Police swooped on the suspect after they received a tip-off on Wednesday, the Bavaria region's interior minister Joachim Herrmann said at a press conference.
The information came from a source in the "suspect's environment", Herrmann said, adding that there were indications that the suspect had "consumed drugs in recent years".
The suspect's contacts and other details as well as the alleged motive "still need to be clarified in more detail", the minister added.
- Knife attacks -
The suspect arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2014, a spokesman for Munich prosecutors told German media group Funke.
According to the spokesman, he had been granted subsidiary protection in Germany and held a residence permit valid until December 2025.
German security services have been on high alert over the threat of Islamist attacks, in particular since the Gaza war erupted on October 7 with the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Police shot dead a man in Munich this month after he opened fire on officers in what was being treated as a suspected "terrorist attack" on the Israeli consulate in Munich.
The shootout fell on the anniversary of the kidnap and killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by Palestinian militants.
The 18-year-old suspect had previously been investigated by authorities in his home country Austria on suspicion of links to an extremist group but the case had been dropped.
The incident was one of a string of attacks in Germany, which have stirred a sense of insecurity in Germany and fed a bitter debate of immigration.
Three people were killed and eight wounded last month in a suspected Islamist stabbing spree at a festival in the western city of Solingen.
The suspect in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, was a Syrian man who had been slated for deportation from Germany.
- Islamist threat -
A federal interior ministry spokesman said if an Islamist motive was confirmed in the latest foiled attack, it would be "further evidence of the high threat posed by Islamist terrorism in Germany".
The threat was illustrated by the Solingen attack and another stabbing in Mannheim, as well as other foiled attacks, the spokesman said
In Mannheim, a policeman was left dead after a stabbing at an anti-Islam rally in the city centre in May.
Germany has responded to the attacks by taking steps to tighten immigration controls and knife laws.
The government has announced new checks along all of its borders and promised to speed up deportations of migrants who have no right to stay in Germany.
The number of people considered Islamist extremists in Germany fell slightly from 27,480 in 2022 to 27,200 last year, according to a report from the federal domestic intelligence agency.
But Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned in August that "the threat posed by Islamist terrorism remains high".
Related Links
The Long War - Doctrine and Application
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
