WASHINGTON, Aug 31 — A joint operation by American and Iraqi forces killed 15 members of the Islamic State group in western Iraq, US Central Command (Centcom) said yesterday.

The raid targeted Islamic State leaders and was carried out early Thursday morning, resulting "in the death of 15 Islamic State operatives” with "no indication of civilian casualties,” Centcom said on social media platform X.

It said the IS members were "armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts,” and that Iraqi forces were continuing "to further exploit the locations raided,” only specifying that the operation occurred in "Western Iraq.”

"Islamic State remains a threat to the region, our allies, as well as our homeland. US Centcom alongside our coalition and Iraqi partners, will continue to aggressively pursue these terrorists,” it added.

The operation comes as Baghdad and Washington have been engaged in months of talks 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 some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group.

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 Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.

Last winter, the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, had claimed some 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.

Thursday’s raid also comes just under a week after US forces killed a senior leader of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Syria. — AFP