ISIS is on track to double the total number of attacks it claimed in 2023, with 153 incidents in Iraq and Syria from January to June 2024, compared to only 121 last year, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a July 16 statement.
The U.S. military said that the increase in attacks could be an indication the terrorist group is attempting a resurgence after several years of decreased capabilities.
US forces, along with Iraqi Security Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces, have conducted nearly 200 missions against ISIS since January, targeting the organization’s operatives and other resources, according to CENTCOM.
During the missions in the first half of 2024, 44 ISIS operatives were killed and 166 detained, with eight senior ISIS leaders killed and 32 captured in both Iraq and Syria, CENTCOM said.
The removal of these individuals from their leadership positions further degrades ISIS capabilities to conduct operations outside of Iraq and Syria, according to the statement.
“We continue to focus our efforts on specifically targeting those members of ISIS who are seeking to conduct external operations outside of Iraq and Syria and those ISIS members attempting to break out ISIS members in detention in an attempt to reconstitute their forces,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the CENTCOM commander, said.
CENTCOM said it will also continue to pursue the approximately 2,500 ISIS fighters at large across Iraq and Syria in the coming months. It also said that ongoing international efforts to repatriate more than 9,000 ISIS detainees in detention facilities in Syria and the repatriation of more than 43,000 individuals and families from the Al Hol and Al Roj camps in the country are equally essential.
In the past six months, ISIS and its affiliates have launched high-profile attacks.
The terrorist group claimed responsibility for a gunman killing six people and wounding more than 30 others at a mosque in Oman on July 16.
It also claimed responsibility for an attack on Niger’s army that reportedly killed 30 soldiers in March.
