US military announces detention of Islamic State leader

WASHINGTON: US military officials announced Wednesday the detention of an Islamic State group (IS) leader during international coalition operations in Iraq and Syria which also killed two other operatives.

US Central Command wrote on X that the operations, conducted from May 21 to 27, “served to disrupt and degrade” IS’s ability to “reconstitute, plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and US and partner forces in the region.”

In the course of supporting six operations in the ongoing campaign, five in Iraq and one in Syria, the US military reported two IS operatives were killed, two were detained — including an IS leader — and multiple weapons were recovered.

“Operations like these underscore the commitment of USCENTCOM, along with our allies and partners, to the enduring defeat of ISIS in the region,” USCENTCOM Commander Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.

The operations in Iraq were carried out by Iraqi forces in the north, where IS cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq’s army and police.

IS in 2014 declared a “caliphate” after capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria, beginning a rule marked by atrocities.

Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition defeated IS in late 2017. The group lost its last territory in Syria two years later.

The group has, however, maintained a presence in Syria’s northeast where it notably targets Kurdish-led forces, and in Iraq it largely carries out attacks in rural areas.

About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq, which now considers its security forces capable of confronting the jihadists.

The US and Iraq announced in late September that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq within a year, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

During his recent Gulf tour, US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia and announced lifting sanctions on Syria.