US confirms 35 ISIS members killed after bombing Syria

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that, on Oct. 28, it conducted a series of bombing raids in Syria in which it eliminated 35 members of the Islamic State (ISIS). According to the official report, the operation did not result in civilian casualties.

The air offensive targeted several ISIS camps located in Syria, and aimed to disrupt the operational capabilities of the organization, whose leadership still poses a threat to stability in the region.

According to Tampa, Fla.-based CENTCOM, the strike was precisely executed to disrupt ISIS plans and capabilities to coordinate attacks against U.S. and allied interests.

Intensified operations against ISIS

This attack adds to a series of recent U.S. actions to weaken the ISIS leadership structure. In September, CENTCOM also confirmed the deaths of four senior ISIS commanders in Iraq, the result of a joint operation between U.S. troops and local forces. Among the leaders eliminated were Ahmad Hamid Hussein Abd-al-Khalil al-Ithawi, chief of operations in Iraq, and Abu-Ali al-Tunisi, chief of technical development. In total, 14 ISIS members were killed in that August raid, in which five U.S. troops were wounded in action and two others suffered minor injuries.

Military presence and regional security

The operation in Syria is part of a long-term strategy to contain the jihadist threat in the region. The United States maintains about 2,500 troops in Iraq and nearly 900 in Syria as part of an international coalition against ISIS. However, forces in this alliance have been the target of several drone and rocket attacks in Iraq and Syria, amid a tense regional context exacerbated by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Pentagon indicated that, although ISIS has lost considerable power since its heyday of territorial control in Iraq and Syria a decade ago, its remnants continue to pose a threat in the region.