Four Islamic State leaders killed in August raid in Iraq, U.S. says

Four leaders of the Islamic State were killed by U.S. and Iraqi security forces in a combined raid carried out in western Iraq last month, including the head of the extremist group’s operations in the country, U.S. military officials announced Friday.

The dramatic operation Aug. 29 resulted in the deaths of 14 Islamic State operatives and was designed to “disrupt and degrade” the terrorist group’s ability to organize and launch attacks throughout the region and beyond, U.S. Central Command said at the time.

The four leaders killed were identified as Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, who was in charge of all Islamic State operations in Iraq; Abu Hammam, who oversaw all operations in western Iraq; Abu Ali al-Tunisi, who oversaw technical development; and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, who was responsible for military operations in western Iraq, according to a statement Friday from Centcom, which coordinates American military activity throughout the Middle East.

The raid last month began with “consecutive and surprise airstrikes” on four Islamic State hideouts in the early hours, the Washington Post previously reported, and took place east of Wadi al-Ghadaf, a river bed that runs through the Anbar desert, in an area Iraqi officials identified as al-Hazeemi. The operation destroyed four “highly camouflaged hideouts,” as well as weapons and ammunition used by the Islamic State, and documents and digital devices found were seized.

Centcom described the militants as “armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts.”

Seven American troops were wounded in the operation, defense officials said, a relatively high number compared with other missions.

The United States maintains about 2,500 service members in Iraq and another 900 troops in neighboring Syria.

They are tasked with stomping out the remnants of the Islamic State and have increasingly had to contend with a surge in attacks by other adversaries, including Iranian-backed militants, since Israel began its military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.