7 US troops hurt in dramatic raid that killed numerous ISIS fighters

A dramatic military raid in western Iraq earlier this week left at least 14 Islamic State fighters dead and seven American troops wounded, according to defense officials, who disclosed the injuries Saturday and said all were in stable condition.

U.S. Central Command, which coordinates American military activity throughout the Middle East, said the operation was conducted Thursday, in the early morning hours, and designed to “disrupt and degrade” the terrorist group’s ability to plan and launch attacks in Iraq and beyond. The raid force, comprising an unspecified number of U.S. and Iraqi personnel, targeted ISIS leaders, Centcom said in its statement, though officials did not identify them by name.

U.S. officials said 15 ISIS fighters were killed. Statements from the Iraqi armed forces placed the number of dead at 14 and said their identities would be made public following DNA analysis. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

Iraqi officials said Thursday’s operation began at 4 a.m. east of Wadi Al-Ghadaf, a river bed that runs through the Anbar desert, in an area they identified as Al-Hazeemi. U.S. and Iraqi forces targeted four “secure and highly camouflaged hideouts,” they said.

An Iraqi military statement said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.”

“Among the dead were key ISIS leaders,” Iraq's military said, without identifying them. “All hideouts, weapons, and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated and important documents, identification papers and communication devices were seized.”

“Due to the geographical difficulty of the area and to ensure the surprise of the enemy and its entrenched leaders, consecutive and surprise airstrikes were carried out on all the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation,” the Iraqi statement says.

U.S. military officials said the militants appeared ready for a fight, characterizing them as heavily armed with “numerous weapons,” including grenades and explosive belts used for suicide attacks.

The Iraqis said all four hideouts were destroyed along with the ISIS fighters’ weapons and ammunition, and that documents, computers and phones were seized.

On Saturday, Maj. Gen Tahseen Al-Khafaji, a spokesman for the Iraqi joint operations command, said that a team of counterterrorism personnel stopped a vehicle and detained two people trying to escape with documents.

Of the seven U.S. service members were wounded, a U.S. defense official said, two had to be evacuated for follow-on care. Two were injured in a fall, which was not described nor was the nature of the others’ injuries. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, said all were in stable condition.

It is unclear if the Iraqis also suffered injuries.

There was no indication any civilians were hurt, Centcom said.

Thursday’s mission underscored a persistent challenge facing the 2,500 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and 900 more in neighboring Syria who are tasked with trying to stamp out the remnants of the Islamic State. And it was notable for the relatively high number of injured personnel relative to other missions.

For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria, U.S. forces have continued fighting the Islamic State group, though the casualties from Friday's raid were higher than others in the time since.

U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have also contended with a dramatic surge in drone and rocket attacks by other adversaries. Iranian-backed militants have repeatedly struck bases housing U.S. troops since Israel began its military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, occasionally eliciting a military response from the Pentagon. Those groups are angry with Washington’s military and political support for Israel.

In February, after at least 165 attacks on U.S. forces since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, the Biden administration approved limited airstrikes in response and to avenge the deaths of three U.S. soldiers killed in a one-way drone strike on their base in Jordan.

The American military presence in Iraq is deeply unpopular with the country’s citizens. Washington and Baghdad have discussed a possible withdrawal of at least some U.S. troops but have yet to announce any concrete plans for doing so.

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

A coalition of more than 80 countries, led by the United States, was formed to fight the group, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq and 2017 and in Syria in 2019. However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar Desert in Iraq and Syria, while claiming attacks carried out by others elsewhere in the world. The IS branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults.

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• Salim reported from Baghdad. The Associated Press contributed.