Iraqi forces kill 16 ISIS militants in Anbar Desert

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced Tuesday that 16 ISIS militants were killed during an ongoing operation in the Anbar Desert, dubbed “Operation Lion’s Leap.” Directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the operation aims to secure the region and eliminate the remaining ISIS cells.

According to the statement, at 4:00 a.m. today, the chief of staff in the army and the Deputy commander of joint operations supervised the mission from the Joint Operations Command Center and Targeting Cell. The operation “included airborne special forces, supported by units from the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, and air cover from the Iraqi Air Force and Army Aviation.” The forces targeted a key ISIS hideout in Wadi al-Ghadhaf, a desert area in the Rutba District of Anbar Governorate. The operation “led to the discovery of two militant bodies, along with equipment and weapons, bringing the total number of ISIS fighters killed in Operation Lion’s Leap to 16, including several high-ranking leaders.”

Additionally, the statement noted that “three pickup trucks used by ISIS cells were detected in various locations and were immediately destroyed by Army Aviation.”

“Our security forces continue their preemptive operations, targeting and destroying terrorist hideouts to ensure justice is served to these defeated elements,” the statement added.

Maj. Gen. Yahya Rasool, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, confirmed Tuesday that the operation against ISIS leaders in the Anbar Desert resulted in the seizure of critical documents and advanced equipment.

“The operation in the Al-Hazimi area, east of Wadi al-Ghadhaf in the Anbar Desert, was conducted under the direct supervision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and with intelligence support from the intelligence service to track down terrorist elements in the western desert,” Rasool told Al-Iraqia state television.

“These high-level operations are delivering severe blows to ISIS cells,” Rasool said, emphasizing that “operations will continue with sustained intelligence efforts. There is no safe haven for these terrorist gangs anywhere in Iraq.”

On August 31, U.S. Central Command announced that a joint operation by U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed 15 ISIS fighters in Iraq’s Anbar Desert, with seven U.S. troops injured during the mission. The fighters were “armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts,” CENTCOM stated on X.

Baghdad and Washington have been engaged in months of talks regarding the future of anti-jihadist coalition forces in Iraq.

ISIS, once a powerful force that captured large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” and enforcing a brutal regime, has been significantly weakened. After losing its last strongholds in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, the group has been reduced to small bands of guerrillas that no longer control any territory.

A United Nations report released in July estimated that ISIS’s combined strength in Iraq and Syria had dwindled to between 1,500 and 3,000 fighters due to “battlefield losses, desertions, and recruitment challenges.” The report noted that while ISIS activities in Iraq are “largely contained,” the group remains capable of sporadic but impactful attacks.