CENTCOM carries out 22 anti-ISIS joint operations in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that its forces, alongside Syrian partners, carried out more than 22 operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria between Oct. 1 and Nov. 6, killing five militants and capturing 19 others.
In a press release, CENTCOM said the operations, conducted under the framework of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), diminished ISIS’s ability to conduct local operations and export violence around the world.
Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, described the recent operations as “a notable achievement” in the ongoing counterterrorism campaign.
“We will continue to aggressively pursue ISIS remnants in Syria while working with the Global Coalition Against ISIS to ensure the gains made against the group in Iraq and Syria are lasting and ISIS is not able to regenerate or export terrorist attacks to other countries,” Cooper said.
The announcement comes days after Syrian Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa declared that Syria had joined the Global Coalition Against ISIS as its 90th member, marking a new phase in regional counterterrorism coordination.
Since ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2019, the Coalition has shifted its focus to stabilization and redevelopment of areas once controlled by the group.
During a UN conference in September, Cooper urged Coalition members to accelerate efforts to repatriate ISIS detainees and displaced persons from northeast Syria to their home countries.
He emphasized that responsible detention and repatriation are essential to preventing the reemergence of extremist networks.
At their peak in 2019, Hawl and Roj camps in northeast Syria held about 70,000 people, many of them relatives of ISIS fighters. According to CENTCOM, that number has now fallen below 30,000.
“Repatriating vulnerable populations before they are radicalized is not just compassion—it is a decisive blow against ISIS’s ability to ever regenerate,” Cooper added, reaffirming U.S. support for the Coalition and for nations repatriating their citizens.
The U.S.-led Global Coalition Against ISIS was formed in 2014 and includes over 80 nations and international organizations. Its operations in Syria have relied heavily on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to target ISIS sleeper cells and prevent the group’s resurgence in the country’s northeast and desert regions.