A U.S. soldier participates in air assault training with Syrian Free Army forces at al-Tanf Garrison, Syria, on Feb. 23, 2025. American forces assisted Syrian and Iraqi partners with six missions targeting Islamic State group members in May, U.S. Central Command said June 5, 2025. (Fred Brown/U.S. Army)
American-aided efforts to ward off an Islamic State group resurgence in Iraq and Syria saw a flurry of recent successes with the capture of an ISIS leader and the killings of two militants, according to U.S. Central Command.
Iraqi and Syrian partner forces carried out six anti-ISIS missions last month with U.S. assistance, a CENTCOM statement Thursday said.
Five of the operations took place in Iraq from May 21-27. They were in the northern provinces of Salah ad-Din and Kirkuk and also in Fallujah, CENTCOM said.
Iraqi forces destroyed multiple locations, confiscated weapons and arms, killed two ISIS operatives and took a leader of the group captive, the statement said.
The mission in Syria, carried out May 21-22 near Deir ez-Zur in the northeast, resulted in the capture of an operative, CENTCOM said.
“Operations like these underscore the commitment ... to the enduring defeat of ISIS in the region,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in the statement.
CENTCOM did not elaborate on its role in the operations.
In addition to regularly striking ISIS targets, the U.S. also helps train and assist partner forces in the region. As of last fall, the U.S. had approximately 2,000 troops in Syria and 2,500 troops in Iraq.
But after more than a decade, President Donald Trump is looking to wind down the U.S. military presence in the region.
The American military pullout in Iraq is slated for completion by no later than September. And the number of U.S. bases in Syria will eventually shrink from eight to one, the American ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said in an interview this week.
