Wanted Islamic State commander killed by U.S., Iraqi forces, officials say

In an operation last month, Iraqi forces and American troops killed a senior commander with the Islamic State group who was wanted by the United States, as well as several other prominent militants, U.S. Central Command and Iraq’s military said on Friday.

The Aug. 29 operation in Iraq’s western Anbar province also involved members of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service and Iraq’s air force.

Among the more than a dozen militants killed in the operation was an ISIS commander from Tunisia, known as Abu Ali Al-Tunisi, for whom the U.S. Treasury Department had offered $5 million for information. Also killed was Ahmad Hamed Zwein, the Islamic State deputy commander in Iraq.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command identified two other ISIS leaders killed as Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, responsible for all ISIS operations in Iraq, and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, responsible for overseeing military operations in western Iraq.

Friday’s announcement was not the first news of the operation.

Officials previously reported two weeks ago that the U.S. military and Iraq had launched a joint raid targeting suspected ISIS militants in the country’s western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt.

CENTCOM said Friday that a total of 14 “ISIS operatives” were killed in the operation, and the Iraqi military said that the 14 were identified after DNA tests were conducted. U.S. and Iraqi authorities did not clarify the identity of the 15th person who was allegedly killed. 

Five of the American troops were wounded in the raid itself, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation. One who suffered a fall was transported out of the region, while one of the wounded was evacuated for further treatment, a U.S. defense official said at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation that had not yet been made public.

In Friday’s announcement, the Iraqi military said the operation also confiscated weapons and computers, smart phones and 10 explosive belts.

The Islamic State group seized territory at the height of its power and declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, but was defeated in Iraq in 2017. In March 2019, the extremists lost the last sliver of land they once controlled in eastern Syria.

At its peak, the group ruled an area half the size of the United Kingdom where it enforced its extreme interpretation of Islam, which included attacks on religious minority groups and harsh punishment of Muslims deemed to be apostates.

Despite their defeat, attacks by ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq and Syria have been on the rise over the past years, killing and wounding scores of people.

Earlier Friday, the U.S. Central Command said its forces killed an ISIS attack cell member in a strike in eastern Syria. It added that the individual was planting an improvised explosive device for a planned attack against anti-IS coalition forces and their partners, an apparent reference to Syria’s Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

In August last year, the U.S. had agreed to enter into talks to transition U.S. and anti-ISIS coalition forces from their long-standing role in assisting Iraq in combating ISIS. There are approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in the country, and their departure will take into account the security situation on the ground, and the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces, officials have said.