Senior ISIS leaders taken out in latest US strike in Syria
ISIS is still out there, and we're vulnerable: Brett Velicovich
Former special ops intel analyst Brett Velicovich discusses reports that the Election Day terror plot was directed by ISIS-K and that unidentified drones flew over U.S. military sites for 17 days in 2023.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday said its forces in the Middle East conducted a "series of strikes" on several ISIS locations in Syria earlier this week in an operation that killed up to 35 terrorists.
The operation, which targeted multiple camps across Syria on Monday evening, also successfully took out "multiple" senior ISIS leaders, confirmed CENTCOM.
The release also confirmed that no civilian casualties have been "indicated" in the sweeping strikes.
U.S. Army soldiers prepare to go out on patrol from a remote combat outpost on May 25, 2021, in northeastern Syria. (John Moore/Getty Images)
FBI SAYS ISIS WAS BEHIND FOILED MASS SHOOTING PLOT ON ELECTION DAY
"The airstrikes will disrupt the ability of ISIS to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians, as well as U.S., allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond," the command said in a release. "CENTCOM, alongside allies and partners in the region, will continue to aggressively degrade ISIS operational capabilities to ensure its enduring defeat."
The announcement comes one week after two U.S. service members were injured in Iraq during an operation that targeted and killed at least seven ISIS operatives.
The American service members were reported to be in stable condition.
Syrian Kurdish security forces stand by as former detainees suspected of being members of the Islamic State (IS) group are released in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Sept. 2, 2024. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
PENTAGON PLANS TO SHRINK US 'FOOTPRINT' IN IRAQ, BUT DECLINES TO SAY BY HOW MUCH
While ISIS remains a major security concern in Iraq and Syria, it does not pose the same level of threat that it did 10 years ago. Though concern mounted earlier this year following reports that the U.S. may be looking to pull its troops out of the country as soon as 2025.
U.S. soldiers have been fighting ISIS alongside coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since the terrorist group first emerged in 2014.
Less than 1,000 U.S. troops remain in Syria while roughly 2,500 remain in Iraq.
Iraqi Army soldiers celebrate as they hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured during a military operation to regain control of a village outside Mosul, Nov. 29, 2016. Ten years after the Islamic State group declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria, the extremists now control no land, have lost many prominent founding leaders and are mostly away from the world news headlines. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Last month, the Pentagon said that it plans to change its "footprint" in Iraq in 2025, but it refused to detail what that means in regard to the number of troops that will remain.
U.S. and Iraqi coalition forces will also continue to support anti-ISIS efforts in Syria as Washington works with Baghdad to determine future steps for U.S. troops fighting the terrorist network in the region.
Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
