CENTCOM says 38 anti-ISIS operations launched in Syria, Iraq in May
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – US Central Command (CENTCOM) revealed on Tuesday it conducted 38 operations against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq in May.
The CENTCOM said in a press release that the operations resulted in the arrest of 31 ISIS militants and the killing of eight others.
Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, Commanding General of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR), said, “Our partner forces continue to demonstrate the capability, capacity, and competence to maintain the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
McFarlane stressed their commitment to “Advise, Assist, and Enable” partners against any attempt by ISIS for “re-establishing any type of network or effective military effort.”
In Syria, the CENTCOM with the participation of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out 17 operations, in which 20 ISIS militants were arrested and two others were killed.
The CENTCOM carried out 21 partnered operations in Iraq, resulting in the arrest of 11 ISIS militants and killing six others.
The CJTFOIR Commanding General noted that despite addressing significant blow to ISIS, it continues to pose a threat to the region, stressing commitment to “the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The SDF, with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS militants were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.
The CENTCOM is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the US Department of Defense. It was founded in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF). In northeast Syria, the CENTCOM aims at continuing to develop and enable the SDF to defeat ISIS and requesting the nations repatriate their citizens of ISIS families from Hawl and Roj camps, northeast Syria.