The US CENTCOM announced on Sunday that in two separate airstrikes on September 24 and 16 they killed 37 “terrorists” who were affiliated to ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked group Hurras al-Din
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The US Central Command (CENTCOM) Forces on Sunday announced the killing of 37 "terrorists" affiliated to the Islamic State (ISIS) and an al-Qaeda linked group in two separate "targeted strikes” in Syria.
“On Sept. 24, CENTCOM Forces conducted a targeted strike in northwest Syria, killing nine terrorist operatives, including Marwan Bassam ‘Abd-al-Ra’uf, a senior Hurras al-Din leader responsible for overseeing military operations from Syria,” read the CENTCOM statement.
Hurras al-Din is an Al Qaeda-affiliated organization based in Syria with “global aspirations to conduct attacks against U.S and Western interests.”
“The successful strike against Marwan Bassam ‘Abd-al-Ra’uf comes a month after a successful strike that killed another Hurras al-Din senior leader, Abu-‘Abd al-Rahman al Makki,” the announcement detailed.
In a separate strike on September 16, “28 ISIS operatives, including at least four senior leaders” were killed in a “large-scale” airstrike on a remote ISIS training camp in central Syria.
“The airstrike will disrupt ISIS’ capability to conduct operations against U.S. interests, as well as our allies and partners,” it added.
ISIS controlled large swathes of territory in parts of Iraq and Syria following their rise in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Syria in 2019.
The group no longer controls any territory, but they are active in their hit-and-run operations, posing serious danger to security around the areas that they had once controlled.
Despite ongoing efforts to eliminate ISIS, the group remains a significant threat to regional stability and security through its remnants.
In addition to Syria, Iraqi armed forces have also accelerated their aerial and ground military campaigns against remnants of the extremist ISIS group across parts of the country, including the deserts of Anbar province, the remote regions of Nineveh province and parts of the disputed province of Kirkuk, killing their militants, destroying their hideouts and confiscating myriads of ammunitions in their possession.
The US CENTCOM said their operations against ISIS remnants is part of their “ongoing committment” to eliminate the extremist group.
“Th airstrikes are part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond,” read the CENTCOM announcement.
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