US, Iraqi forces raid targeting Daesh group militants kills 15 in western desert

The US military took part in an Iraqi raid in the country’s western region that killed 15 people as forces targeted suspected militants from the Daesh group, the American military said early Saturday.

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

The US military’s Central Command alleged the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the attack, which Iraqi forces said happened in the country’s the Anbar Desert.

“This operation targeted Daesh leaders to disrupt and degrade Daesh’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as US citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” Central Command said, using an acronym for the militant group. “Iraqi Security Forces continue to further exploit the locations raided.”

It added: “There is no indication of civilian casualties.”

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

At its peak, the Daesh 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 Daesh’s branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults.