United States Central Command (CENTCOM) published a statement on Wednesday detailing its intensified efforts against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. 

In the first half of 2024, ISIS claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in the region, more than double the total number of attacks in 2023. The surge indicates a significant attempt by ISIS to rebuild its capabilities after several years of decline.

In response, CENTCOM, in collaboration with the Iraqi Security Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has conducted 196 missions aimed at defeating ISIS. 
The operations, which took place from January to June 2024, resulted in the deaths of 44 ISIS operatives and the detention of 166 others.

In Iraq, 137 joint operations led to the killing of 30 ISIS operatives and the detention of 74. In Syria, 59 missions conducted with the SDF and other partners resulted in 14 ISIS operatives killed and 92 detained.

Among those eliminated were eight senior ISIS leaders, with 32 captured across both countries. 

The ISIS leaders were integral to planning operations outside Iraq and Syria, recruiting, training, and weapons smuggling. Their removal is seen as a significant blow to ISIS’s ability to conduct external operations.

"The global enduring defeat of ISIS relies on combined efforts of the Coalition and partners to remove key leaders from the battlefield and the repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of families from Al Hol and Al Roj," said Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command.

The pursuit of approximately 2,500 ISIS fighters remaining at large in Iraq and Syria remains critical. 

Equally important are international efforts to repatriate over 9,000 ISIS detainees in Syrian detention facilities and reintegrate more than 43,000 individuals from the Al Hol and Al Roj camps. This population has decreased from a peak of over 70,000 in 2019.

Since January, the United States and Iraq have been in talks about the future presence of US and other foreign troops in Iraq. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, alongside top officials from the Iraqi armed forces and the US-led coalition, initiated discussions in Baghdad aimed at establishing a timeline for reducing the coalition's presence.

The talks signify Iraq's push to end the coalition's military mission, which began in 2014 to defeat ISIS. 

Despite the coalition's initial success, approximately 2,500 US troops remain in Iraq. The call for their withdrawal intensified after a 2020 US airstrike killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, leading to accusations of US aggression and violations of Iraqi sovereignty.

Recent regional tensions, including attacks on US forces by Iran-allied groups amid the Israel-Gaza conflict, have further strained relations. In response, Iraq has criticized US retaliatory strikes. 

Both nations have now agreed to form working groups to evaluate the ISIS threat, operational needs, and the enhancement of Iraqi security forces, signaling potential steps towards reducing the US military footprint in Iraq.