The joint raid, dubbed “Lion’s Leap,” targeted hideouts sheltering ISIS militants and leaders in Iraq’s western desert on Thursday. The US military has said seven of its troops were injured in the operation. Baghdad previously put the death toll for ISIS at 14, while Washington said 15.
“Two bodies of terrorists, as well as equipment and weapons, were found, bringing the total number of terrorists killed in the qualitative operation of the Lion’s Leap to 16, including first-rank leaders of the terrorist ISIS gangs,” Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said in a statement on Tuesday.
The operation was centered around Anbar province’s Wadi al-Ghadaf, described by the Iraqi military as an “important den” for ISIS remnants in the country.
ISIS rose to power and seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory during a brazen offensive in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, when its so-called caliphate fell to Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by the US-led international coalition.
Despite its territorial defeat, the group continues to carry out hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions in several provinces, particularly in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, which stretch across the provinces of Salahaddin, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
